regex - Efficiently removing specific characters (some punctuation) from Strings in Java?

Question

In Java, what is the most efficient way of removing given characters from a String? Currently, I have this code:

private static String processWord(String x) {
    String tmp;

    tmp = x.toLowerCase();
    tmp = tmp.replace(",", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace(".", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace(";", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("!", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("?", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("(", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace(")", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("{", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("}", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("[", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("]", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("<", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace(">", "");
    tmp = tmp.replace("%", "");

    return tmp;
}

Would it be faster if I used some sort of StringBuilder, or a regex, or maybe something else? Yes, I know: profile it and see, but I hope someone can provide an answer of the top of their head, as this is a common task.

Answer 1

Although \p{Punct} will specify a wider range of characters than in the question, it does allow for a shorter replacement expression:

tmp = tmp.replaceAll("\p{Punct}+", "");