Java List Example

1. List Interface

In this post, we feature a comprehensive article on Java List. We are going to check in-depth the java.lang.List in Java. We are also going to see some methods that are declared in the Collection interface which allow you to add an element, sort it, find the size, and remove an element (or elements) from a list collection.

2. List in Collection Hierarchy

There are four concrete implementation classes in for List interface in java. List interface extends the Collection interface for some common operation to be supported by all implementation classes with iterator capability. Here is how all List implemented classes fit into the collection class hierarchy.

You can also check the ArrayList Java Example – How to use arraylist in the following video:

2.1 Iterable Interface

This is the top-most interface in the collection hierarchy. Implementing this interface allows the object to be the target of the for-each loop statement.

Until java8, Iterable Interface was having only one method iterator() which returns an iterator over the element of type on which it is getting called.

In java8 two more default method got added.

• splitIterator() – Creates a Spliteratorover the elements described by this Iterable.
• foreach() – Performs a given action for each element ofIterableuntil all elements have been processed or the action throws an exception.

2.2 Collection Interface

There are many methods declared in the Collection interface deciding very basic functionally for each type of classes in Collection Framework. E.g addition, removal, find, sort, size and implementation of equals() and hashCode() method. Below is the list of collection interface methods:

1. public boolean add(E e): to insert an element in this collection.
2. public boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c): to insert the specified collection elements in the invoking collection.
3. public void clear(): This method removes elements from the list. It removes the total number of elements from the collection.
4. boolean contains(Object o): Returns true if this collection contains the specified element.
5. public boolean isEmpty(): checks if this collection is empty.
6. public Iterator iterator() : returns an iterator over the elements in this collection.
7. default Stream<E> parallelStream(): Returns a possibly parallel Stream. It is allowable for this method to return a sequential stream.
8. public boolean remove(Object element): to (delete) remove an element from the list collection.
9. public boolean removeAll(Collection<?> c): to delete all the elements of the specified collection from the invoking collection.
10. default boolean removeIf(Predicate<? super E> filter): Added in java8 to delete all the elements of the collection that satisfy the specified condition in the predicate.
11. public int size(): returns the total number of elements in the collection.
12. public boolean retainAll(Collection<?> c): deletes all the elements of invoking collection except the specified collection.
13. public Object[] toArray() : converts the collection into an array.
14. public <T> T[] toArray(T[] a) : Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array.

2.3 List Interface

Below are some important properties of List in java-

• It is a child interface of Collection interface in Collection Framework
• We use List implemented classes, if we want to store a group of elements in a single entity by allowing duplicate and preserving insertion order.
• List allow null values and since it doesn’t restrict duplicates so allows multiple duplicate elements also.
• It allows zero-based index access to its elements.
• It also provides ListIterator which allows insertion, replacement and bidirectional access of its element. We can also pass an optional index to get a ListIterator starting from a particular index in the List

There are four implementation classes of List interface; namely ArrayList, LinkedList, Stack, Vector.

While instantiating List interface we should provide one of the implementation class objects as below:

List  arrayList= new ArrayList();  
List linkedList= new LinkedList();  
List vector= new Vector();  
List stack= new Stack();

Lets take each implementation class in detail.

2.3.1 ArrayList

ArrayList is a non-synchronized re-sizable implementation of List interface. ArrayList can be created in the following ways –

creating ArrayList

// ArrayList with default constructor
List<Integer> integerList = new ArrayList<Integer>();
// ArrayList with default capicity 
List<Integer> integerListWithInnitialCapacity = new ArrayList<Integer>(10);
// ArrayList with other collection class
List<Integer> integerListWithOtherCollection = new ArrayList<Integer>(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4, 5));

We will use the first and sometimes third way of instantiating ArrayListhere onwards.

Adding Elements in ArrayList

Adding elements in ArrayList

//Adding element at the end of the list
integerList.add(1);
System.out.println(integerList);
//Adding collection of elements at the end of the list
integerList.addAll(integerListWithOtherCollection);
System.out.println(integerList);
//Adding element on perticular index of the list
integerList.add(3, 100);
System.out.println(integerList);
//Adding collection of elements on perticular index of the list
integerList.addAll(0, integerListWithOtherCollection);
System.out.println(integerList);

Result

[1] 
[1, 1, 2, 3] 
[1, 1, 2, 100, 3] 
[1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 100, 3]

Clearing All List elements

List<Integer> integerListWithOtherCollection = new ArrayList<Integer>(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);
integerListWithOtherCollection.clear();
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);

Result

[1, 2, 3]
[]

Checking Existance of List element

List<Integer> integerListWithOtherCollection = new ArrayList<Integer>(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3));

System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection.contains(3));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection.contains(7));

Result

true
false

Iterating List elements

// Iterate using iterator
Iterator<Integer> integerListWithOtherCollectionItr = integerListWithOtherCollection.iterator();
System.out.println("Using Iterator");
while (integerListWithOtherCollectionItr.hasNext())
	System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollectionItr.next());

System.out.println("Using forEach()");
// Iterate using forEach()
integerListWithOtherCollection.forEach(System.out::println);

Result

Using Iterator
1
2
3
Using forEach()
1
2
3

Getting Element By index

List<Integer> integerListWithOtherCollection = new ArrayList<Integer>(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);
// Getting Element By index
System.out.println("Element at index 1 is: " + integerListWithOtherCollection.get(1));
System.out.println("Element at index 2 is: " + integerListWithOtherCollection.get(2));

Result

[1, 2, 3]
Element at index 1 is: 2
Element at index 2 is: 3

Getting index of element

System.out.println("Index of 3 is: " + integerListWithOtherCollection.indexOf(3));
System.out.println("Index of 4 is: " + integerListWithOtherCollection.indexOf(4));

Result

Index of 3 is: 2
Index of 4 is: -1

Removing element from list

List<String> integerListWithOtherCollection = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList("Jack", "is", "a", "good", "kid", "but", "he", "is", "very", "noughty"));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);
//Removing Element from 2nd index
integerListWithOtherCollection.remove(2);
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);
//Removing object from List
integerListWithOtherCollection.remove("but");
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);
//Removing collection of element from list
integerListWithOtherCollection.removeAll(Arrays.asList("very"));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);
//Removing collection based in some condition
integerListWithOtherCollection.removeIf(x -> x.contains("good"));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection);

Result

[Jack, is, a, good, kid, but, he, is, very, noughty]
[Jack, is, good, kid, but, he, is, very, noughty]
[Jack, is, good, kid, he, is, very, noughty]
[Jack, is, good, kid, he, is, noughty]
[Jack, is, kid, he, is, noughty]

Setting element value in list

List<Integer> integerList = new ArrayList<Integer>(Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3));
System.out.println("Initial List" + integerList);
integerList.set(2, 5);
System.out.println("List after replacing 2nd index value to 5" + integerList);

Result

[1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 5]

Getting sublist from list

List<String> integerListWithOtherCollection = new ArrayList<String>(
				Arrays.asList("Jack", "is", "a", "good", "kid", "but", "he", "is", "very", "noughty"));
System.out.println(integerListWithOtherCollection.subList(0, 5));

Result

jack, is, a, good, kid]

2.3.2 LinkedList

LinkedList is a non-synchronized implementation of Doubly-linked list by using  List and Deque interfaces and can be created in the following ways –

creating LinkedList

// LinkedList with default constructor
LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>();
// LinkedList with other collection class
LinkedList<String> linkedListFromCollection = new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList("Jack", "John"));

We will use the first and sometimes third way of instantiating LinkedListhere onwards.

Adding elements in LinkedList

// Creating empty LinkedList
LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>();
System.out.println(linkedList);
// adding an element at end of LinkedList using add()
linkedList.add("Jack");
linkedList.add("John");
System.out.println(linkedList);
// adding an element at 0th index LinkedList
linkedList.add(0, "Hill");
System.out.println(linkedList);
// adding an collection at end of LinkedList
linkedList.addAll(Arrays.asList("Andrews", "Elizabeth"));
System.out.println(linkedList);
// adding an collection at 1st index of LinkedList
linkedList.addAll(1, Arrays.asList("Cedric", "Aaron"));
System.out.println(linkedList);
// adding an element at start of LinkedList
linkedList.addFirst("Roger");
System.out.println(linkedList);
// adding an element at end of LinkedList
linkedList.addLast("Jeanette");
System.out.println(linkedList);

Result

 []
 [Jack, John]
 [Hill, Jack, John]
 [Hill, Jack, John, Andrews, Elizabeth]
 [Hill, Cedric, Aaron, Jack, John, Andrews, Elizabeth]
 [Roger, Hill, Cedric, Aaron, Jack, John, Andrews, Elizabeth]
 [Roger, Hill, Cedric, Aaron, Jack, John, Andrews, Elizabeth, Jeanette]

Clearing All LinkedList elements

// Creating linkedList with collection
LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList("Jack", "John"));
System.out.println(linkedList);
// Clearing LinkedList
linkedList.clear();
System.out.println(linkedList);

Result

[Jack, John]
[]

Checking Existance of LinkedList element

// Creating linkedList with collection
LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList("Jack", "John"));
System.out.println("initial linkedList: " + linkedList);
// checking Jack is there in LinkedList
System.out.println("Is Jack there in List: " + linkedList.contains("Jack"));
// checking Hill is there in LinkedList
System.out.println("Is Hill there in List: " + linkedList.contains("Hill"));

Result

initial linkedList: [Jack, John]
 Is Jack there in List: true
 Is Hill there in List: false

Iterating List elements

    LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>();
    linkedList.addAll(Arrays.asList("Andrews", "Elizabeth", "Bob"));
    
    System.out.println("Using default Iterator");
    Iterator<String> linkedListIterator = linkedList.iterator();
    while (linkedListIterator.hasNext())
      System.out.println(linkedListIterator.next());

    System.out.println("Using default ListIterator");
    Iterator<String> listIterator = linkedList.listIterator();
    while (listIterator.hasNext())
      System.out.println(listIterator.next());

    System.out.println("Using default ListIterator from specified index");
    Iterator<String> listIteratorFrom1stIndex = linkedList.listIterator(1);
    while (listIteratorFrom1stIndex.hasNext())
      System.out.println(listIteratorFrom1stIndex.next());

    System.out.println("Using default DecendingIterator");
    Iterator<String> decendingListIterator = linkedList.descendingIterator();
    while (decendingListIterator.hasNext())
      System.out.println(decendingListIterator.next());

    System.out.println("Using for each loop");
    linkedList.forEach(System.out::println);

Result

 Using default Iterator
 Andrews
 Elizabeth
 Bob
 Using default ListIterator
 Andrews
 Elizabeth
 Bob
 Using default ListIterator from specified index
 Elizabeth
 Bob
 Using default DecendingIterator
 Bob
 Elizabeth
 Andrews
 Using for each loop
 Andrews
 Elizabeth
 Bob

Getting LinkedList elements

     LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>();
    linkedList.addAll(Arrays.asList("Andrews", "Elizabeth", "Bob"));

    // First Element using element() method
    System.out.println("First Element using element() method: " + linkedList.element());

    // First Element using getFirst() method
    System.out.println("First Element using getFirst() method: " + linkedList.getFirst());

    // First Element using peek() method
    System.out.println("First Element using peek() method: " + linkedList.peek());

    // First Element using peekFirst() method
    System.out.println("First Element using peekFirst() method: " + linkedList.peekFirst());

    // Last Element using getLast() method
    System.out.println("Last Element using getLast() method: " + linkedList.getLast());

    // Last Element using peekLast() method
    System.out.println("Last Element using peekLast() method: " + linkedList.peekLast());

    // 1st index Element using get() method
    System.out.println("1st index Element using get() method: " + linkedList.get(1));

Result

 First Element using element() method: Andrews
 First Element using getFirst() method: Andrews
 First Element using peek() method: Andrews
 First Element using peekFirst() method: Andrews
 Last Element using getLast() method: Bob
 Last Element using peekLast() method: Bob
 1st index Element using get() method: Elizabeth

Getting Index of element from LinkedList

LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList("Andrews", "Elizabeth", "Andrews"));
    System.out.println("First Index of Andrews is: " + linkedList.indexOf("Andrews"));
    System.out.println("Last Index of Andrews is: " + linkedList.lastIndexOf("Andrews"));
    System.out.println("First Index of Bob is: " + linkedList.lastIndexOf("Bob"));

Result

Index of Andrews is: 0
Index of Andrews is: 2
Index of Andrews is: -1

Removing Index of element from LinkedList

    LinkedList<String> linkedList =
        new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList("Alex", "John", "Martin", "Google", "Andrews", "Elizabeth", "Andrews"));
    System.out.println("Innitial Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println("removing the head (first element) of list.");
    linkedList.remove();
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println("removing the element at index 1 in this list.");
    linkedList.remove(1);
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println("removing the first occurrence of the specified element(Elizabeth) from this list, if it is present.");
    linkedList.remove("Elizabeth");
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println("removing the first element from this list.");
    linkedList.removeFirst();
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println("removing the last element from this list.");
    linkedList.removeLast();
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println(
        "removing the first occurrence of the specified element(Google) in this list (when traversing the list from head to tail).");
    linkedList.removeFirstOccurrence("Google");
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

    System.out.println(
        "removing the last occurrence of the specified element(Andrews) in this list (when traversing the list from head to tail).");
    linkedList.removeLastOccurrence("Andrews");
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

Result

Innitial Linked list: [Alex, John, Martin, Google, Andrews, Elizabeth, Andrews]
 removing the head (first element) of list.
 Updated Linked list: [John, Martin, Google, Andrews, Elizabeth, Andrews]
 removing the element at index 1 in this list.
 Updated Linked list: [John, Google, Andrews, Elizabeth, Andrews]
 removing the first occurrence of the specified element(Elizabeth) from this list, if it is present.
 Updated Linked list: [John, Google, Andrews, Andrews]
 removing the first element from this list.
 Updated Linked list: [Google, Andrews, Andrews]
 removing the last element from this list.
 Updated Linked list: [Google, Andrews]
 removing the first occurrence of the specified element(Google) in this list (when traversing the list from head to tail).
 Updated Linked list: [Andrews]
 removing the last occurrence of the specified element(Andrews) in this list (when traversing the list from head to tail).
 Updated Linked list: []

Setting value of an element in LinkedList

    LinkedList<String> linkedList = new LinkedList<String>(Arrays.asList("Alex", "John", "Martin"));
    System.out.println("Innitial Linked list: " + linkedList);
    System.out.println("Updating John(at index 1) to Elizabeth");
    linkedList.set(1, "Elizabeth");
    System.out.println("Updated Linked list: " + linkedList);

Result

 Innitial Linked list: [Alex, John, Martin]
 Updating John(at index 1) to Elizabeth
 Updated Linked list: [Alex, Elizabeth, Martin]

2.3.3 Vector

Vector is a synchronized implementation of a growable array of objects which can be accessed using an integer index. We can create a Vector class object in the following ways.

Creating Vector Objects

    // Creates an empty vector so that its internal data array has size 10 and zero capacity increment.
    Vector<String> vector = new Vector<String>();

    // Creates a vector containing the elements of the specified collectionCreates
    Vector<String> vectorWithAnotherCollection = new Vector<String>(Arrays.asList("Alex", "Bob"));

    // Constructs an empty vector with the specified initial capacity and zero capacity increment.
    Vector<String> vectorWithDefaultCapicity = new Vector<String>(10);

    // Creates an empty vector with the specified initial capacity and capacity increment.

    Vector<String> vectorWithDefaultCapicityAndIncrementFactor = new Vector<String>(10, 5);

Adding Element to Vector Objects

    Vector<String> vector = new Vector<String>(Arrays.asList("Devid", "Bob"));
    System.out.println("Initial Vector: " + vector);

    System.out.println("Appending the John to the end of Vector.");
    vector.add("John");
    System.out.println("Updated Vector: " + vector);

    System.out.println("Inserting the Alex 2nd index in Vector.");
    vector.add(2, "Alex");
    System.out.println("Updated Vector: " + vector);

    System.out.println("Appending all of the elements in the Collection(\"Martin\", \"Steave\") to the end of this Vector");
    vector.addAll(Arrays.asList("Martin", "Steave"));
    System.out.println("Updated Vector: " + vector);

    System.out.println("Inserts all of the elements in the Collection(\"Jack\", \"Jill\") into Vector 1st position onwards.");
    vector.addAll(1, Arrays.asList("Jack", "Jill"));
    System.out.println("Updated Vector: " + vector);

    System.out.println("Adding the specified Element to the end of this vector and increasing its size by one.");
    vector.addElement("Zin");
    System.out.println("Updated Vector: " + vector);

Result

 Initial Vector: [Devid, Bob]
 Appending the John to the end of Vector.
 Updated Vector: [Devid, Bob, John]
 Inserting the Alex 2nd index in Vector.
 Updated Vector: [Devid, Bob, Alex, John]
 Appending all of the elements in the Collection("Martin", "Steave") to the end of this Vector
 Updated Vector: [Devid, Bob, Alex, John, Martin, Steave]
 Inserts all of the elements in the Collection("Jack", "Jill") into Vector 1st position onwards.
 Updated Vector: [Devid, Jack, Jill, Bob, Alex, John, Martin, Steave]
 Adding the specified Element to the end of this vector and increasing its size by one.
 Updated Vector: [Devid, Jack, Jill, Bob, Alex, John, Martin, Steave, Zin]

2.3.4 Vector

Stack is a LIFO(Last In First Out) implementation of Vector class with 5 additional methods that allow a vector to be treated as a stack. These methods are push(), pop(), peek(), search() and empty(). Stackhas only one constructor i.e. default constructor. We can create Stack Objects and use all five methods as follows.

Using Stack

    // Creating Stack
    Stack<String> stack = new Stack<String>();

    // Adding Stack Element
    stack.push("item1");
    stack.push("item2");
    stack.push("item3");
    System.out.println("Initial stack is: " + stack);

    // Getting top (peek) element
    System.out.println("Top item is: " + stack.peek());

    // Finding 1 based index from top of the stack for an element
    System.out.println("Finding item3: found at index " + stack.search("item1"));

    // Deleting top element
    System.out.println("Deleting top item");
    stack.pop();

    System.out.println("Updated stack is: " + stack);

Result

Initial stack is: [item1, item2, item3] 
Top item is: item3 
Finding item3: found at index 3 
Deleting top item Updated stack is: [item1, item2]

2.4 ArrayList vs LinkedList

2.5 Which one to use ArrayList vs LinkedList

As per the comparison between ArrayList and linkedList in the previous section, we conclude the following points

• If we want to create a list which is going to be used heavily for lookup and search operation then we should go for ArrayList.
• If we want to create a list which is going to be used heavily for data manipulation operation like insert/remove/update we should choose LinkedList.

3. More articles

• ArrayList Java Example – How to use arraylist
• LinkedList Java Example
• Java Array – java.util.Arrays Example
• Java Queue Example
• Java Stack Example

4. Download the Source Code

This was an example of Java List.

Last updated on Feb. 24th, 2022

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