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Create ArrayList from array
33 answers
I'm having a lot of trouble turning an array into an ArrayList
in Java. This is my array right now:
Card[] hand = new Card[2];
"hand" holds an array of "Cards". How this would look like as an ArrayList
?
As an ArrayList
that line would be
import java.util.ArrayList;
...
ArrayList<Card> hand = new ArrayList<Card>();
To use the ArrayList
you have do
hand.get(i); //gets the element at position i
hand.add(obj); //adds the obj to the end of the list
hand.remove(i); //removes the element at position i
hand.add(i, obj); //adds the obj at the specified index
hand.set(i, obj); //overwrites the object at i with the new obj
Also read this http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/ArrayList.html
This will give you a list.
List<Card> cardsList = Arrays.asList(hand);
If you want an arraylist, you can do
ArrayList<Card> cardsList = new ArrayList<Card>(Arrays.asList(hand));
If You Can, Use Guava
It's worth pointing out the Guava way, which greatly simplifies these shenanigans:
Usage
For an Immutable List
Use the ImmutableList
class and its of()
and copyOf()
factory methods (elements can't be null):
List<String> il = ImmutableList.of("string", "elements"); // from varargs
List<String> il = ImmutableList.copyOf(aStringArray); // from array
For A Mutable List
Use the Lists
class and its newArrayList()
factory methods:
List<String> l1 = Lists.newArrayList(anotherListOrCollection); // from collection
List<String> l2 = Lists.newArrayList(aStringArray); // from array
List<String> l3 = Lists.newArrayList("or", "string", elements"); // from varargs
Please also note the similar methods for other data structures in other classes, for instance in Sets
.
Why Guava?
The main attraction could be to reduce the clutter due to generics for type-safety, as the use of the Guava factory methods allow the types to be inferred most of the time. However, this argument holds less water since Java 7 arrived with the new diamond operator.
But it's not the only reason (and Java 7 isn't everywhere yet): the shorthand syntax is also very handy, and the methods initializers, as seen above, allow to write more expressive code. You do in one Guava call what takes 2 with the current Java Collections.
If You Can't...
For an Immutable List
Use the JDK's Arrays.asList()
and Collections.unmodifiableList()
factory methods:
List<String> l1 = Arrays.asList(anArrayOfElements);
List<String> l2 = Arrays.asList("element1", "element2");
Note that:
- The returned type for
asList()
says ArrayList
, but it's not java.util.ArrayList
. It's an inner type, which mimicks ArrayList
but actually directly references the past array and forbids some modifications.
unmodifiableList()
further locks down changes to the returned view of the original list.
See the next step if you need a mutable list.
For a Mutable List
Same as above, but wrapped with an actual java.util.ArrayList
:
List<String> l1 = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(array)); // Java 1.5 to 1.6
List<String> l1b = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(array)); // Java 1.7+
List<String> l2 = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList("a", "b")); // Java 1.5 to 1.6
List<String> l2b = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList("a", "b")); // Java 1.7+
For Educational Purposes: The Good ol' Manual Way
// for Java 1.5+
static <T> List<T> arrayToList(final T[] array) {
final List<T> l = new ArrayList<T>(array.length);
for (final T s : array) {
l.add(s);
}
return (l);
}
// for Java < 1.5 (no generics, no compile-time type-safety, boo!)
static List arrayToList(final Object[] array) {
final List l = new ArrayList(array.length);
for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
l.add(array[i]);
}
return (l);
}
List<Card> list = new ArrayList<Card>(Arrays.asList(hand));
declaring the list (and initializing it with an empty arraylist)
List<Card> cardList = new ArrayList<Card>();
adding an element:
Card card;
cardList.add(card);
iterating over elements:
for(Card card : cardList){
System.out.println(card);
}