How to Initialize List of String in Java

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  4. How to Initialize List of String in Java
Rupam Yadav Feb 02, 2024
Java Java List java Arraylist
  1. Use ArrayList, LinkedList and Vector to Instantiate a List of String in Java
  2. Use Arrays.asList to Instantiate a List of String in Java
  3. Use Stream in Java 8 to Instantiate a List of String in Java
  4. Use List.of to Instantiate a List of String in Java
How to Initialize List of String in Java

In this tutorial, we will see various ways in which we can Initialize a list of string in Java. Since the list is an interface, we can not directly instantiate it.

Use ArrayList, LinkedList and Vector to Instantiate a List of String in Java

A List is a child interface of Collections in Java. It is an ordered collection of objects which can store duplicate values. The instance of List can be created using classes that implement the List Interface.

ArrayList, Vector, LinkedList and Stack are a few of these classes. We create an instance myList of a List using new ArraList<String>(). Hence, we can declare and create an instance of List using any of the following ways shown below and perform various operations on that List.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Vector;

public class ListExample {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<String> myList = new ArrayList<String>();
    List<Fruits> lList = new LinkedList<Fruits>();
    List<Integer> vList = new Vector<Integer>();

    myList.add("Happy");
    myList.add("Coding");

    lList.add(new Fruits("Grapes", "Green"));
    lList.add(new Fruits("Apple", "Red"));

    vList.add(1);
    vList.add(4);
    vList.add(9);
    vList.add(7);

    vList.remove(2);
    for (String s : myList) {
      System.out.println(s);
    }

    for (Fruits f : lList) {
      System.out.println(f.name + " is " + f.color + " in color.");
    }

    for (int i : vList) {
      System.out.println(i);
    }
  }
}
class Fruits {
  String name;
  String color;
  Fruits(String name, String color) {
    this.name = name;
    this.color = color;
  }
}

Output:

Happy
Coding
Grapes is Green in color.
Apple is Red in color.
1
4
7

Use Arrays.asList to Instantiate a List of String in Java

The Arrays.asList method returns a fixed-size list that is backed by an array. This is just a wrapper that makes the array available as a list. We can not modify this list as it is immutable.

Here in the code, we get an instance of List named myList whose length can not be modified.

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class ListExmp {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<String> myList = Arrays.asList("John", "Ben", "Gregor", "Peter");
    String name = myList.get(3);
    System.out.println(name);
  }
}

Output:

Peter

Use Stream in Java 8 to Instantiate a List of String in Java

Java 8 Stream includes wrappers around a data source that makes a bulky process on the data easy and convenient.

The Stream.of() method constructs a stream of data and collects them in a list. The Collector interface provides the logic for this operation. The Collector.toList() collects all the stream elements into an instance of List.

import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
import java.util.stream.Stream;

public class ListExmp {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<String> list = Stream.of("john", "doe").collect(Collectors.toList());
    if (list.contains("doe")) {
      System.out.println("doe is there");
    } else {
      System.out.println("doe is not there");
    }
  }
}

Output:

doe is there

Use List.of to Instantiate a List of String in Java

The List.of is the new method introduced in Java 9. In the code below, the List.of() method takes any number of arguments and returns an immutable list. We have immutableList as an unmodifiable instance of List.

We have to instantiate ArrayList with an immutable list as a parameter to create a mutable list. As shown in the code below, modifications can be made to the mutableList instance of the List.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class ListExmp {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    List<String> immutableList = List.of("One", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five");
    List<String> mutableList = new ArrayList<>(List.of("Six", "Seven", "Eight"));
    for (String l : immutableList) {
      System.out.println(l);
    }
    System.out.println("XXXXXX");
    mutableList.add("Nine");
    for (String l : mutableList) {
      System.out.println(l);
    }
  }
}

Output:

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
XXXXXX
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Author: Rupam Yadav
Rupam Yadav avatar Rupam Yadav avatar

Rupam Saini is an android developer, who also works sometimes as a web developer., He likes to read books and write about various things.

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