Intersection and union of ArrayLists in Java

Question

Are there any methods to do so? I was looking but couldn\'t find any.

Another question: I need these methods so I can filter files. Some are AND filter

Answer 1

If the objects in the list are hashable (i.e. have a decent hashCode and equals function), the fastest approach between tables approx. size > 20 is to construct a HashSet for the larger of the two lists.

public static  ArrayList intersection(Collection a, Collection b) {
    if (b.size() > a.size()) {
        return intersection(b, a);
    } else {
        if (b.size() > 20 && !(a instanceof HashSet)) {
            a = new HashSet(a);
        }
        ArrayList result = new ArrayList();
        for (T objb : b) {
            if (a.contains(objb)) {
                result.add(objb);
            }
        }
        return result;
    }
}