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The ArrayList class

The ArrayList class is intended for holding a sequence of elements. Actually, it bears a strong resemblance to an array, but in many cases the ArrayList class is more convenient. Namely, a ArrayList automatically grows and shrinks as you add and remove objects.

The ArrayList is a library class. (It's found in java.util, but I recommend the abridged version in csbsju.cs160 in this class.) To create one, you declare a variable of type ArrayList, and set it up to point to a new ArrayList.

ArrayList vec = new ArrayList();

The ArrayList class has a lot of methods. I'm not going to list them all here. The documentation is much more helpful on this point.

Adding elements

The ArrayList class provides three important methods for putting new data into the ArrayList.

void add(Object obj)

Adds obj at the list's end.

void add(int index, Object obj)

Inserts obj at index index. Objects at this index and beyond are shifted up to accommodate the new object.

Object set(int index, Object obj)

Changes the object at index index to obj. Returns the value previously at that index.

ArrayList count = new ArrayList();
for(int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) count.add("" + i);

NOTE: An ArrayList object can hold only objects. It can't hold primitive types, like int. We'll see a workaround soon - but it's simply a workaround.

Accessing elements

Three methods are particularly useful for accessing information about an ArrayList object.

int size()

Returns the number of elements in the list.

Object get(int index)

Returns the object at index index of the list.

int indexOf(Object obj)

Returns the index of obj in the list, or -1 if not found. It uses the equals() method of obj to determine if two elements are equal.

The get() method is a little irritating: The ArrayList class is written to hold a sequence of objects of any type; as far as ArrayList knows, all its elements are simply in the Object class. Thus, you cannot do the following.

String str = count.get(5);

The get() method returns an Object, and Java won't automatically cast down the inheritance hierarchy. You need to have an explicit casting operator to make this work.

String str = (String) count.get(5);

It's worth noting that indexOf() uses the equals() method to determine whether it has found a match. Thus, count.indexOf("5") returns 4, even though "4" != count.get(4), since the two objects (that happen to represent the same string) are at different locations in memory.

Removing elements

You can also remove elements from an ArrayList object. This would be the inverse of adding something into the ArrayList.

Object remove(int index)
Removes the element at location index of the array, returning the removed object. Elements are shifted down to fill the hole.

Comparison with arrays

ArrayLists are very useful. In many cases where we used an array in the past, an ArrayList would be more convenient - for example, they would be very appropriate for the Very Small Video lab (but you're not allowed to go back and use ArrayLists for it!). If the program used an ArrayList instead, then the store wouldn't have an arbitrary limit on how many videos and customers the store could have..

When should you use an array, and when should you use an ArrayList?

• An ArrayList can automatically grow and shrink, making it much more convenient where you want to hold a set that can grow arbitrarily large.

• An array is generally more convenient when the array has a predetermined length. The ability to use brackets to access array elements is undeniably nice.

• An ArrayList is very awkward when the elements are primitive types. You cannot put an int into an ArrayList, for example. We'll see the workaround soon, but it's not pretty. Arrays are much more convenient for this.

• There is a slight efficiency difference, but it's not at all important. (Incidentally, arrays have the edge.)

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Next: Wrapper classes. Up: The ArrayList class. Previous: None.