How do I join two lists in Java?

Question

Conditions: do not modifiy the original lists; JDK only, no external libraries. Bonus points for a one-liner or a JDK 1.3 version.

Is there a simpler way than:

Answer 1

public static <T> List<T> merge(List<T>... args) {
    final List<T> result = new ArrayList<>();

    for (List<T> list : args) {
        result.addAll(list);
    }

    return result;
}

Answer 2

We can join 2 lists using java8 with 2 approaches.

    List<String> list1 = Arrays.asList("S", "T");
    List<String> list2 = Arrays.asList("U", "V");

1) Using concat :

    List<String> collect2 = Stream.concat(list1.stream(), list2.stream()).collect(toList());
    System.out.println("collect2 = " + collect2); // collect2 = [S, T, U, V]

2) Using flatMap :

    List<String> collect3 = Stream.of(list1, list2).flatMap(Collection::stream).collect(toList());
    System.out.println("collect3 = " + collect3); // collect3 = [S, T, U, V]

Answer 3

The smartest in my opinion:

/**
 * @param smallLists
 * @return one big list containing all elements of the small ones, in the same order.
 */
public static <E> List<E> concatenate (final List<E> ... smallLists)
{
    final ArrayList<E> bigList = new ArrayList<E>();
    for (final List<E> list: smallLists)
    {
        bigList.addAll(list);
    }
    return bigList;
}

Answer 4

another one liner solution using Java8 stream, since flatMap solution is already posted, here is a solution without flatMap

List<E> li = lol.stream().collect(ArrayList::new, List::addAll, List::addAll);

or

List<E> ints = Stream.of(list1, list2).collect(ArrayList::new, List::addAll, List::addAll);

code

    List<List<Integer>> lol = Arrays.asList(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3), Arrays.asList(4, 5, 6));
    List<Integer> li = lol.stream().collect(ArrayList::new, List::addAll, List::addAll);
    System.out.println(lol);
    System.out.println(li);

output

[[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6]]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Answer 5

Another Java 8 one-liner:

List<String> newList = Stream.of(listOne, listTwo)
                            .flatMap(Collection::stream)
                            .collect(Collectors.toList());

As a bonus, since Stream.of() is variadic, you may concatenate as many lists as you like.

List<String> newList = Stream.of(listOne, listTwo, listThree)
                            .flatMap(Collection::stream)
                            .collect(Collectors.toList());

Answer 6

Not simpler, but without resizing overhead:

List<String> newList = new ArrayList<>(listOne.size() + listTwo.size());
newList.addAll(listOne);
newList.addAll(listTwo);