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| ArrayList |
ArrayList
ArrayList is a part of something called the Collection framework.
The Collection framework consists of all interfaces and classes that can hold a set of values (similar to arrays). ArrayList is a class that is in this hierarchy and known as a Collection object. It implements the List interface which in turn implements the Collection interface. This Collection interface can be found in the java.util package. You will need to import this package.
import java.util.ArrayList; //it would more efficient.
always import specific package that saves memory size and works in less time
ArrayList is a class that is used to create dynamic arrays. It is slower than regular arrays but allows for a lot of manipulation. It can be initialized to have a specific size or it will have a default size of 10 units.
ArrayList<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
ArrayList<Integer> ages = new ArrayList<>(5);
In the above snippet, the angle breackets <> take a generic data type as argument specifying data type of the elements in the ArrayList. The first ArrayList names is specified as containing String elements. Thus, it will only be allowed to contain String elements. Its size is not specified so it will have a default size of 10. The second ArrayList ages has specified that it will only hold integers. But ArrayList cannot hold primitives, it only holds objects. Thus to make it store integers, floats, etc., we can use wrapper classes. names will have a specified size of 5.
Since ArrayList implements List, an ArrayList can be created using the following syntax:
List<Integer> students = new ArrayList<>();
An ArrayList is dynamic, meaning it will grow in size if required and similarly shrink in size if elements are deleted from it. This is what makes it better to use than normal arrays.
Clear/Delete all elements from the list
variable.clear();
Delete element at specified index from the list
variable_name.remove(index_number);
Access element at specified index
variable_name.get(index_number);
Modify/update element at specified index
variable_name.set(index_number,element);
Reverse elements in list
import java.util.Collections // package
Collections.reverse(variable_name);
Sort elements in ascending order
Collections.sort(variable_name);
Sort elements in descending order
Collections.reverseOrder());
An ArrayList allows us to randomly access elements. ArrayList is similar to Vector in a lot of ways. But it is faster than Vectors. The main thing to note is that - Vectors are faster than arrays but ArrayLists are not.
So when it comes down to choosing between the two - if speed is critical then Vectors should be considered, otherwise ArrayLists are better when it comes to storing large number of elements and accessing them efficiently.