Converting 'ArrayList to 'String[]' in Java

Question

How might I convert an ArrayList object to a String[] array in Java?

Answer 1

If your application is already using Apache Commons lib, you can slightly modify the accepted answer to not create a new empty array each time:

List list = ..;
String[] array = list.toArray(ArrayUtils.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY);

// or if using static import
String[] array = list.toArray(EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY);

There are a few more preallocated empty arrays of different types in ArrayUtils.

Also we can trick JVM to create en empty array for us this way:

String[] array = list.toArray(ArrayUtils.toArray());

// or if using static import
String[] array = list.toArray(toArray());

But there's really no advantage this way, just a matter of taste, IMO.