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The ArrayList size increases dynamically because whenever the ArrayList class requires to resize then it will create a new array of bigger size and copies all the elements from the old array to the new array. And now it is using the new array’s reference for its internal usage. As the old array is no longer in use, it will be garbage collected in the next garbage collection.
Let's see how ArrayList size increases dynamically in detail.
How ArrayList Grows Dynamically?
As we know that Array is a fixed-length data structure and once it is created, we can't change its size but ArrayList can re-size itself when gets full depending upon the capacity and load factor.Create an ArrayList Example - usage of add() method
public class CreateArrayListExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Creating an ArrayList of String using
List<String> animals = new ArrayList<>();
// Adding new elements to the ArrayList
animals.add("Lion");
animals.add("Tiger");
animals.add("Cat");
animals.add("Dog");
System.out.println(animals);
// Adding an element at a particular index in an ArrayList
animals.add(2, "Elephant");
System.out.println(animals);
}
}
[Lion, Tiger, Cat, Dog]
[Lion, Tiger, Elephant, Cat, Dog]
From the above example, the default constructor is used to create an ArrayList instance. new ArrayList<>(); - Constructs an empty list with an initial capacity of ten.
ArrayList internal Implementation
- Find the DEFAULT_CAPACITY of the ArrayList
- ArrayList increases the size dynamically while adding the elements to it, so look at the internal working of add() method.
- Look at the source code of ArrayList and how it grows its size?
Find the DEFAULT_CAPACITY of the ArrayList
/**
* Default initial capacity.
*/
private static final int DEFAULT_CAPACITY = 10;
Internal working add() method
/**
* Appends the specified element to the end of this list.
*
* @param e element to be appended to this list
* @return <tt>true</tt> (as specified by {@link Collection#add})
*/
public boolean add(E e) {
ensureCapacityInternal(size + 1); // Increments modCount!!
elementData[size++] = e;
return true;
}
/**
* Inserts the specified element at the specified position in this
* list. Shifts the element currently at that position (if any) and
* any subsequent elements to the right (adds one to their indices).
*
* @param index index at which the specified element is to be inserted
* @param element element to be inserted
* @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException {@inheritDoc}
*/
public void add(int index, E element) {
rangeCheckForAdd(index);
ensureCapacityInternal(size + 1); // Increments modCount!!
System.arraycopy(elementData, index, elementData, index + 1,
size - index);
elementData[index] = element;
size++;
}
private void ensureCapacityInternal(int minCapacity) {
ensureExplicitCapacity(calculateCapacity(elementData, minCapacity));
}
private void ensureExplicitCapacity(int minCapacity) {
modCount++;
// overflow-conscious code
if (minCapacity - elementData.length > 0)
grow(minCapacity);
}
/**
* Increases the capacity to ensure that it can hold at least the
* number of elements specified by the minimum capacity argument.
*
* @param minCapacity the desired minimum capacity
*/
private void grow(int minCapacity) {
// overflow-conscious code
int oldCapacity = elementData.length;
int newCapacity = oldCapacity + (oldCapacity >> 1);
if (newCapacity - minCapacity < 0)
newCapacity = minCapacity;
if (newCapacity - MAX_ARRAY_SIZE > 0)
newCapacity = hugeCapacity(minCapacity);
// minCapacity is usually close to size, so this is a win:
elementData = Arrays.copyOf(elementData, newCapacity);
}
private static int hugeCapacity(int minCapacity) {
if (minCapacity < 0) // overflow
throw new OutOfMemoryError();
return (minCapacity > MAX_ARRAY_SIZE) ?
Integer.MAX_VALUE :
MAX_ARRAY_SIZE;
}
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