Create ArrayList from array

Question

I have an array that is initialized like:

Element[] array = {new Element(1), new Element(2), new Element(3)};

I would like to convert this

Answer 1

You probably just need a List, not an ArrayList. In that case you can just do:

List<Element> arraylist = Arrays.asList(array);

Answer 2

You also can do it with stream in Java 8.

 List<Element> elements = Arrays.stream(array).collect(Collectors.toList()); 

Answer 3

If the array is of a primitive type, the given answers won't work. But since Java 8 you can use:

int[] array = new int[5];
Arrays.stream(array).boxed().collect(Collectors.toList());

Answer 4

Even though there are many perfectly written answers to this question, I will add my inputs.

Say you have Element[] array = { new Element(1), new Element(2), new Element(3) };

New ArrayList can be created in the following ways

ArrayList<Element> arraylist_1 = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(array));
ArrayList<Element> arraylist_2 = new ArrayList<>(
    Arrays.asList(new Element[] { new Element(1), new Element(2), new Element(3) }));

// Add through a collection
ArrayList<Element> arraylist_3 = new ArrayList<>();
Collections.addAll(arraylist_3, array);

And they very well support all operations of ArrayList

arraylist_1.add(new Element(4)); // or remove(): Success
arraylist_2.add(new Element(4)); // or remove(): Success
arraylist_3.add(new Element(4)); // or remove(): Success

But the following operations returns just a List view of an ArrayList and not actual ArrayList.

// Returns a List view of array and not actual ArrayList
List<Element> listView_1 = (List<Element>) Arrays.asList(array);
List<Element> listView_2 = Arrays.asList(array);
List<Element> listView_3 = Arrays.asList(new Element(1), new Element(2), new Element(3));

Therefore, they will give error when trying to make some ArrayList operations

listView_1.add(new Element(4)); // Error
listView_2.add(new Element(4)); // Error
listView_3.add(new Element(4)); // Error

More on List representation of array link.

Answer 5

Java 9

In Java 9, you can use List.of static factory method in order to create a List literal. Something like the following:

List<Element> elements = List.of(new Element(1), new Element(2), new Element(3));

This would return an immutable list containing three elements. If you want a mutable list, pass that list to the ArrayList constructor:

new ArrayList<>(List.of(// elements vararg))

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JEP 269: Convenience Factory Methods for Collections

JEP 269 provides some convenience factory methods for Java Collections API. These immutable static factory methods are built into the List, Set, and Map interfaces in Java 9 and later.

Answer 6

// Guava
import com.google.common.collect.ListsLists
...
List<String> list = Lists.newArrayList(aStringArray);