Java: How to convert List to Map

Question

Recently I have conversation with a colleague about what would be the optimal way to convert List to Map in Java and if there any specific benefits of doing so.

I want to know optimal conversion approach and would really appreciate if any one can guide me.

Is this good approach:

List<Object[]> results;
Map<Integer, String> resultsMap = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
for (Object[] o : results) {
    resultsMap.put((Integer) o[0], (String) o[1]);
}

Answer 1

I like Kango_V's answer, but I think it's too complex. I think this is simpler - maybe too simple. If inclined, you could replace String with a Generic marker, and make it work for any Key type.

public static <E> Map<String, E> convertListToMap(Collection<E> sourceList, ListToMapConverterInterface<E> converterInterface) {
    Map<String, E> newMap = new HashMap<String, E>();
    for( E item : sourceList ) {
        newMap.put( converterInterface.getKeyForItem( item ), item );
    }
    return newMap;
}

public interface ListToMapConverterInterface<E> {
    public String getKeyForItem(E item);
}

Used like this:

        Map<String, PricingPlanAttribute> pricingPlanAttributeMap = convertListToMap( pricingPlanAttributeList,
                new ListToMapConverterInterface<PricingPlanAttribute>() {

                    @Override
                    public String getKeyForItem(PricingPlanAttribute item) {
                        return item.getFullName();
                    }
                } );

Answer 2

A List and Map are conceptually different. A List is an ordered collection of items. The items can contain duplicates, and an item might not have any concept of a unique identifier (key). A Map has values mapped to keys. Each key can only point to one value.

Therefore, depending on your List's items, it may or may not be possible to convert it to a Map. Does your List's items have no duplicates? Does each item have a unique key? If so then it's possible to put them in a Map.

Answer 3

Here's a little method I wrote for exactly this purpose. It uses Validate from Apache Commons.

Feel free to use it.

/**
 * Converts a <code>List</code> to a map. One of the methods of the list is called to retrive
 * the value of the key to be used and the object itself from the list entry is used as the
 * objct. An empty <code>Map</code> is returned upon null input.
 * Reflection is used to retrieve the key from the object instance and method name passed in.
 *
 * @param <K> The type of the key to be used in the map
 * @param <V> The type of value to be used in the map and the type of the elements in the
 *            collection
 * @param coll The collection to be converted.
 * @param keyType The class of key
 * @param valueType The class of the value
 * @param keyMethodName The method name to call on each instance in the collection to retrieve
 *            the key
 * @return A map of key to value instances
 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if any of the other paremeters are invalid.
 */
public static <K, V> Map<K, V> asMap(final java.util.Collection<V> coll,
        final Class<K> keyType,
        final Class<V> valueType,
        final String keyMethodName) {

    final HashMap<K, V> map = new HashMap<K, V>();
    Method method = null;

    if (isEmpty(coll)) return map;
    notNull(keyType, Messages.getString(KEY_TYPE_NOT_NULL));
    notNull(valueType, Messages.getString(VALUE_TYPE_NOT_NULL));
    notEmpty(keyMethodName, Messages.getString(KEY_METHOD_NAME_NOT_NULL));

    try {
        // return the Method to invoke to get the key for the map
        method = valueType.getMethod(keyMethodName);
    }
    catch (final NoSuchMethodException e) {
        final String message =
            String.format(
                    Messages.getString(METHOD_NOT_FOUND),
                    keyMethodName,
                    valueType);
        e.fillInStackTrace();
        logger.error(message, e);
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(message, e);
    }
    try {
        for (final V value : coll) {

            Object object;
            object = method.invoke(value);
            @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
            final K key = (K) object;
            map.put(key, value);
        }
    }
    catch (final Exception e) {
        final String message =
            String.format(
                    Messages.getString(METHOD_CALL_FAILED),
                    method,
                    valueType);
        e.fillInStackTrace();
        logger.error(message, e);
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(message, e);
    }
    return map;
}

Answer 4

Universal method

public static <K, V> Map<K, V> listAsMap(Collection<V> sourceList, ListToMapConverter<K, V> converter) {
    Map<K, V> newMap = new HashMap<K, V>();
    for (V item : sourceList) {
        newMap.put( converter.getKey(item), item );
    }
    return newMap;
}

public static interface ListToMapConverter<K, V> {
    public K getKey(V item);
}

Answer 5

List<Item> list;
Map<Key,Item> map = new HashMap<Key,Item>();
for (Item i : list) map.put(i.getKey(),i);

Assuming of course that each Item has a getKey() method that returns a key of the proper type.

Answer 6

You can leverage the streams API of Java 8.

public class ListToMap {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<User> items = Arrays.asList(new User("One"), new User("Two"), new User("Three"));

    Map<String, User> map = createHashMap(items);
    for(String key : map.keySet()) {
      System.out.println(key +" : "+map.get(key));
    }
  }

  public static Map<String, User> createHashMap(List<User> items) {
    Map<String, User> map = items.stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(User::getId, Function.identity()));
    return map;
  }
}

For more details visit: http://codecramp.com/java-8-streams-api-convert-list-map/