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In this article, we will discuss commonly used Java Collections Utility methods.
CollectionUtils.java class contains very useful Collections utility methods so you can use them in your day to day project work. These utility methods perform common, often reused functions and they don't require no have object level state, that is they tend to be global functions.
As we know that Java provides built-in functions to handle Collections operations but there are few more things we do on a regular basis and can be reused. In this post, we will discuss about commonly used and may be helpful to keep handy as CollectionUtils.java class with static methods.
The below class diagram shows a list of static utility methods that we will discuss in this post.
Don't forget to check out to Useful Collections Utility Methods
CollectionUtils.java
package com.javaguides.collections.utils; import java.lang.reflect.Array; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Collection; import java.util.Enumeration; import java.util.HashSet; import java.util.Iterator; import java.util.LinkedHashMap; import java.util.List; import java.util.Map; import java.util.Properties; import java.util.Set; import java.util.SortedSet; /** * Useful utility methods for Collections Framework * * @author javaguides.net */ public final class CollectionUtils { private CollectionUtils() { } /** * Return {@code true} if the supplied Collection is {@code null} or empty. * Otherwise, return {@code false}. * * @param collection * the Collection to check * @return whether the given Collection is empty */ public static boolean isEmpty(Collection << ? > collection) { return (collection == null || collection.isEmpty()); } /** * Return {@code true} if the supplied Collection is not {@code null} or not * empty. Otherwise, return {@code false}. * * @param collection * the Collection to check * @return whether the given Collection is not empty */ public static boolean isNotEmpty(Collection << ? > collection) { return !isEmpty(collection); } /** * Return {@code true} if the supplied Map is {@code null} or empty. * Otherwise, return {@code false}. * * @param map * the Map to check * @return whether the given Map is empty */ public static boolean isEmpty(Map << ? , ? > map) { return (map == null || map.isEmpty()); } /** * Return {@code true} if the supplied Map is not {@code null} or not empty. * Otherwise, return {@code false}. * * @param map * the Map to check * @return whether the given Map is not empty */ public static boolean isNotEmpty(Map << ? , ? > map) { return !isEmpty(map); } /** * Determine whether the given array is empty: i.e. {@code null} or of zero * length. * * @param array * the array to check * @see #isEmpty(Object) */ public static boolean isEmpty(Object[] array) { return (array == null || array.length == 0); } /** * Convert the given array (which may be a primitive array) to an object * array (if necessary of primitive wrapper objects). * <p> * A {@code null} source value will be converted to an empty Object array. * * @param source * the (potentially primitive) array * @return the corresponding object array (never {@code null}) * @throws IllegalArgumentException * if the parameter is not an array */ public static Object[] toObjectArray(Object source) { if (source instanceof Object[]) { return (Object[]) source; } if (source == null) { return new Object[0]; } if (!source.getClass().isArray()) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("Source is not an array: " + source); } int length = Array.getLength(source); if (length == 0) { return new Object[0]; } Class << ? > wrapperType = Array.get(source, 0).getClass(); Object[] newArray = (Object[]) Array.newInstance(wrapperType, length); for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) { newArray[i] = Array.get(source, i); } return newArray; } /** * Convert the supplied array into a List. A primitive array gets converted * into a List of the appropriate wrapper type. * <p> * <b>NOTE:</b> Generally prefer the standard {@link Arrays#asList} method. * This {@code arrayToList} method is just meant to deal with an incoming * Object value that might be an {@code Object[]} or a primitive array at * runtime. * <p> * A {@code null} source value will be converted to an empty List. * * @param source * the (potentially primitive) array * @return the converted List result * @see ObjectUtils#toObjectArray(Object) * @see Arrays#asList(Object[]) */ @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes") public static List arrayToList(Object source) { return Arrays.asList(toObjectArray(source)); } /** * Merge the given array into the given Collection. * * @param array * the array to merge (may be {@code null}) * @param collection * the target Collection to merge the array into */ @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") public static < E > void mergeArrayIntoCollection(Object array, Collection < E > collection) { Object[] arr = toObjectArray(array); for (Object elem: arr) { collection.add((E) elem); } } /** * Merge the given Properties instance into the given Map, copying all * properties (key-value pairs) over. * <p> * Uses {@code Properties.propertyNames()} to even catch default properties * linked into the original Properties instance. * * @param props * the Properties instance to merge (may be {@code null}) * @param map * the target Map to merge the properties into */ @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") public static < K, V > void mergePropertiesIntoMap(Properties props, Map < K, V > map) { if (props != null) { for (Enumeration << ? > en = props.propertyNames(); en.hasMoreElements();) { String key = (String) en.nextElement(); Object value = props.get(key); if (value == null) { // Allow for defaults fallback or potentially overridden // accessor... value = props.getProperty(key); } map.put((K) key, (V) value); } } } /** * Check whether the given Iterator contains the given element. * * @param iterator * the Iterator to check * @param element * the element to look for * @return {@code true} if found, {@code false} otherwise */ public static boolean contains(Iterator << ? > iterator, Object element) { if (iterator != null) { while (iterator.hasNext()) { Object candidate = iterator.next(); if (nullSafeEquals(candidate, element)) { return true; } } } return false; } /** * Check whether the given Enumeration contains the given element. * * @param enumeration * the Enumeration to check * @param element * the element to look for * @return {@code true} if found, {@code false} otherwise */ public static boolean contains(Enumeration << ? > enumeration, Object element) { if (enumeration != null) { while (enumeration.hasMoreElements()) { Object candidate = enumeration.nextElement(); if (nullSafeEquals(candidate, element)) { return true; } } } return false; } /** * Check whether the given Collection contains the given element instance. * <p> * Enforces the given instance to be present, rather than returning * {@code true} for an equal element as well. * * @param collection * the Collection to check * @param element * the element to look for * @return {@code true} if found, {@code false} otherwise */ public static boolean containsInstance(Collection << ? > collection, Object element) { if (collection != null) { for (Object candidate: collection) { if (candidate == element) { return true; } } } return false; } /** * Return {@code true} if any element in '{@code candidates}' is contained * in '{@code source}'; otherwise returns {@code false}. * * @param source * the source Collection * @param candidates * the candidates to search for * @return whether any of the candidates has been found */ public static boolean containsAny(Collection << ? > source, Collection << ? > candidates) { if (isEmpty(source) || isEmpty(candidates)) { return false; } for (Object candidate: candidates) { if (source.contains(candidate)) { return true; } } return false; } /** * Return the first element in '{@code candidates}' that is contained in * '{@code source}'. If no element in '{@code candidates}' is present in * '{@code source}' returns {@code null}. Iteration order is * {@link Collection} implementation specific. * * @param source * the source Collection * @param candidates * the candidates to search for * @return the first present object, or {@code null} if not found */ @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") public static < E > E findFirstMatch(Collection << ? > source, Collection < E > candidates) { if (isEmpty(source) || isEmpty(candidates)) { return null; } for (Object candidate: candidates) { if (source.contains(candidate)) { return (E) candidate; } } return null; } /** * Find a single value of the given type in the given Collection. * * @param collection * the Collection to search * @param type * the type to look for * @return a value of the given type found if there is a clear match, or * {@code null} if none or more than one such value found */ @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") public static < T > T findValueOfType(Collection << ? > collection, Class < T > type) { if (isEmpty(collection)) { return null; } T value = null; for (Object element: collection) { if (type == null || type.isInstance(element)) { if (value != null) { // More than one value found... no clear single value. return null; } value = (T) element; } } return value; } /** * Find a single value of one of the given types in the given Collection: * searching the Collection for a value of the first type, then searching * for a value of the second type, etc. * * @param collection * the collection to search * @param types * the types to look for, in prioritized order * @return a value of one of the given types found if there is a clear * match, or {@code null} if none or more than one such value found */ public static Object findValueOfType(Collection << ? > collection, Class << ? > [] types) { if (isEmpty(collection) || isEmpty(types)) { return null; } for (Class << ? > type : types) { Object value = findValueOfType(collection, type); if (value != null) { return value; } } return null; } /** * Determine whether the given Collection only contains a single unique * object. * * @param collection * the Collection to check * @return {@code true} if the collection contains a single reference or * multiple references to the same instance, {@code false} otherwise */ public static boolean hasUniqueObject(Collection << ? > collection) { if (isEmpty(collection)) { return false; } boolean hasCandidate = false; Object candidate = null; for (Object elem: collection) { if (!hasCandidate) { hasCandidate = true; candidate = elem; } else if (candidate != elem) { return false; } } return true; } /** * Find the common element type of the given Collection, if any. * * @param collection * the Collection to check * @return the common element type, or {@code null} if no clear common type * has been found (or the collection was empty) */ public static Class << ? > findCommonElementType(Collection << ? > collection) { if (isEmpty(collection)) { return null; } Class << ? > candidate = null; for (Object val: collection) { if (val != null) { if (candidate == null) { candidate = val.getClass(); } else if (candidate != val.getClass()) { return null; } } } return candidate; } /** * Retrieve the last element of the given Set, using * {@link SortedSet#last()} or otherwise iterating over all elements * (assuming a linked set). * * @param set * the Set to check (may be {@code null} or empty) * @return the last element, or {@code null} if none * @since 5.0.3 * @see SortedSet * @see LinkedHashMap#keySet() * @see java.util.LinkedHashSet */ public static < T > T lastElement(Set < T > set) { if (isEmpty(set)) { return null; } if (set instanceof SortedSet) { return ((SortedSet < T > ) set).last(); } // Full iteration necessary... Iterator < T > it = set.iterator(); T last = null; while (it.hasNext()) { last = it.next(); } return last; } /** * Retrieve the last element of the given List, accessing the highest index. * * @param list * the List to check (may be {@code null} or empty) * @return the last element, or {@code null} if none * @since 5.0.3 */ public static < T > T lastElement(List < T > list) { if (isEmpty(list)) { return null; } return list.get(list.size() - 1); } /** * Marshal the elements from the given enumeration into an array of the * given type. Enumeration elements must be assignable to the type of the * given array. The array returned will be a different instance than the * array given. */ public static < A, E extends A > A[] toArray(Enumeration < E > enumeration, A[] array) { ArrayList < A > elements = new ArrayList < > (); while (enumeration.hasMoreElements()) { elements.add(enumeration.nextElement()); } return elements.toArray(array); } /** * Determine if the given objects are equal, returning {@code true} if both * are {@code null} or {@code false} if only one is {@code null}. * <p> * Compares arrays with {@code Arrays.equals}, performing an equality check * based on the array elements rather than the array reference. * * @param o1 * first Object to compare * @param o2 * second Object to compare * @return whether the given objects are equal * @see Object#equals(Object) * @see java.util.Arrays#equals */ public static boolean nullSafeEquals(Object o1, Object o2) { if (o1 == o2) { return true; } if (o1 == null || o2 == null) { return false; } if (o1.equals(o2)) { return true; } if (o1.getClass().isArray() && o2.getClass().isArray()) { return arrayEquals(o1, o2); } return false; } /** * Compare the given arrays with {@code Arrays.equals}, performing an * equality check based on the array elements rather than the array * reference. * * @param o1 * first array to compare * @param o2 * second array to compare * @return whether the given objects are equal * @see #nullSafeEquals(Object, Object) * @see java.util.Arrays#equals */ private static boolean arrayEquals(Object o1, Object o2) { if (o1 instanceof Object[] && o2 instanceof Object[]) { return Arrays.equals((Object[]) o1, (Object[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof boolean[] && o2 instanceof boolean[]) { return Arrays.equals((boolean[]) o1, (boolean[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof byte[] && o2 instanceof byte[]) { return Arrays.equals((byte[]) o1, (byte[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof char[] && o2 instanceof char[]) { return Arrays.equals((char[]) o1, (char[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof double[] && o2 instanceof double[]) { return Arrays.equals((double[]) o1, (double[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof float[] && o2 instanceof float[]) { return Arrays.equals((float[]) o1, (float[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof int[] && o2 instanceof int[]) { return Arrays.equals((int[]) o1, (int[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof long[] && o2 instanceof long[]) { return Arrays.equals((long[]) o1, (long[]) o2); } if (o1 instanceof short[] && o2 instanceof short[]) { return Arrays.equals((short[]) o1, (short[]) o2); } return false; } // ----------------------------------------------------------------------- /** * Reverses the order of the given array. * * @param array * the array to reverse */ public static void reverseArray(final Object[] array) { int i = 0; int j = array.length - 1; Object tmp; while (j > i) { tmp = array[j]; array[j] = array[i]; array[i] = tmp; j--; i++; } } /** * Returns <code>true</code> iff all elements of {@code coll2} are also * contained in {@code coll1}. The cardinality of values in {@code coll2} is * not taken into account, which is the same behavior as * {@link Collection#containsAll(Collection)}. * <p> * In other words, this method returns <code>true</code> iff the * {@link #intersection} of <i>coll1</i> and <i>coll2</i> has the same * cardinality as the set of unique values from {@code coll2}. In case * {@code coll2} is empty, {@code true} will be returned. * <p> * This method is intended as a replacement for * {@link Collection#containsAll(Collection)} with a guaranteed runtime * complexity of {@code O(n + m)}. Depending on the type of * {@link Collection} provided, this method will be much faster than calling * {@link Collection#containsAll(Collection)} instead, though this will come * at the cost of an additional space complexity O(n). * * @param coll1 * the first collection, must not be null * @param coll2 * the second collection, must not be null * @return <code>true</code> iff the intersection of the collections has the * same cardinality as the set of unique elements from the second * collection * @since 4.0 */ public static boolean containsAll(final Collection << ? > coll1, final Collection << ? > coll2) { if (coll2.isEmpty()) { return true; } final Iterator << ? > it = coll1.iterator(); final Set < Object > elementsAlreadySeen = new HashSet < > (); for (final Object nextElement: coll2) { if (elementsAlreadySeen.contains(nextElement)) { continue; } boolean foundCurrentElement = false; while (it.hasNext()) { final Object p = it.next(); elementsAlreadySeen.add(p); if (nextElement == null ? p == null : nextElement.equals(p)) { foundCurrentElement = true; break; } } if (!foundCurrentElement) { return false; } } return true; } /** * Returns the size of the specified collection or {@code 0} if the * collection is {@code null}. * * @param c * the collection to check * @return the size of the specified collection or {@code 0} if the * collection is {@code null}. * @since 1.2 */ public static int size(Collection c) { return c != null ? c.size() : 0; } /** * Returns the size of the specified map or {@code 0} if the map is * {@code null}. * * @param m * the map to check * @return the size of the specified map or {@code 0} if the map is * {@code null}. * @since 1.2 */ public static int size(Map m) { return m != null ? m.size() : 0; } /** * Retrieves the first item from a collections. * * @param collection * the collection * @param defaultValue * the default value should not initial value exist * @param <T> * the type of the collection * * @return the first instance of the collection else null if not present */ public static < T > T getFirstItem(final Collection < T > collection, final T defaultValue) { if (collection == null) { return defaultValue; } final Iterator < T > iterator = collection.iterator(); return iterator.hasNext() ? iterator.next() : defaultValue; } /** * Provides a consistent ordering over lists. First compares by the first * element. If that element is equal, the next element is considered, and so * on. */ public static < T extends Comparable < T >> int compareLists(List < T > list1, List < T > list2) { if (list1 == null && list2 == null) return 0; if (list1 == null || list2 == null) { throw new IllegalArgumentException(); } int size1 = list1.size(); int size2 = list2.size(); int size = Math.min(size1, size2); for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) { int c = list1.get(i).compareTo(list2.get(i)); if (c != 0) return c; } if (size1 < size2) return -1; if (size1 > size2) return 1; return 0; } /** * Returns true iff l1 is a sublist of l (i.e., every member of l1 is in l, * and for every e1 < e2 in l1, there is an e1 < e2 occurrence in l). */ public static < T > boolean isSubList(List < T > l1, List << ? super T > l) { Iterator << ? super T > it = l.iterator(); for (T o1: l1) { if (!it.hasNext()) { return false; } Object o = it.next(); while ((o == null && !(o1 == null)) || (o != null && !o.equals(o1))) { if (!it.hasNext()) { return false; } o = it.next(); } } return true; } /** * Returns all objects in list1 that are not in list2. * * @param <T> * Type of items in the collection * @param list1 * First collection * @param list2 * Second collection * @return The collection difference list1 - list2 */ public static < T > Collection < T > diff(Collection < T > list1, Collection < T > list2) { Collection < T > diff = new ArrayList < > (); for (T t: list1) { if (!list2.contains(t)) { diff.add(t); } } return diff; } }
Note that the popular frameworks like Spring, Hibernate and Apache projects use this kind of common Collections utility classes or methods as common and reusable utility methods.
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