The addAll method of ArrayList happens to work in Oracle's JDK (and OpenJDK). But it is not guaranteed to. The Javadoc for addAll says:

The behavior of this operation is undefined if the specified collection is modified while the operation is in progress. (This implies that the behavior of this call is undefined if the specified collection is this list, and this list is nonempty.)

The question is actually not as pointless as some of the answers imply. Just "trying it" is not a sufficient test that something works correctly, as this case proves.

In fact, when thinking about whether list.addAll(list) works, you need to ask yourself how it might be implemented. If it was simply iterating over list and adding each element to the end of list, you'd get a ConcurrentModificationException (or else it would go into an infinite loop). That's why the Javadoc doesn't guarantee that such a call works. As it happens, Oracle's implementation copies the passed list to an array first, and then copies each element of the array to the end of the list. This means that calling addAll for a list might not be as efficient as doing it yourself without creating an extra copy.

Answer from Klitos Kyriacou on Stack Overflow
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ java โ€บ list-add-method-in-java-with-examples
List add() Method in Java with Examples - GeeksforGeeks
July 11, 2025 - The add method in Java is a fundamental function for list manipulation. With this guide, you can easily add/append a new element to a list using the add method.
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Oracle
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List (Java Platform SE 8 )
April 21, 2026 - NullPointerException - if the specified collection contains one or more null elements and this list does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null ... Appends all of the elements in the specified collection to the end of this list, in the order that they are returned by the specified collection's iterator (optional operation).
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What is the best way to add items to a list?
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Is there a way to add elements to an Array List all at once?
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swing - How to append a list to another list in java - Stack Overflow
boolean addAll(Collection c) Appends all of the elements in the specified collection to the end of this list, in the order that they are returned by the specified collection's iterator (optional operation). The behavior of this operation is undefined if the specified collection is modified while the operation is in progress. (Note that this will occur if the specified collection is this list... More on stackoverflow.com
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How to append elements at the end of ArrayList in Java? - Stack Overflow
I am wondering, how do I append an element to the end of an ArrayList in Java? Here is the code I have so far: public class Stack { private ArrayList stringList = new ArrayList More on stackoverflow.com
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A linked list in Java is a data structure that consists of a sequence of elements, each contained in a node. Nodes are chained together using pointers, with each node pointing to the next node in the sequence. The use of pointers allows for efficient insertion and deletion of elements as it does not require shifting elements, which is required when relying on simple arrays.

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Linked lists in Java (java.util.LinkedList) are useful in scenarios where frequent insertion and deletion of elements is required, as these operations can be performed more efficiently than in arrays, because there's no need to shift elements. Linked lists (java.util.LinkedList) are also useful when the size of the data structure needs to be dynamically allocated.

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How To Use add() and addAll() Methods for Java List | DigitalOcean
September 10, 2025 - // Using List.of() for immutable ... "awesome"}; for (String word : words) { dynamicList.add(word); } The addAll() method is the efficient way to add multiple elements from another collection to a list....
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W3Schools
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Java ArrayList add() Method
T refers to the data type of items in the list. ... import java.util.ArrayList; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { ArrayList<String> cars = new ArrayList<String>(); cars.add("Volvo"); cars.add("BMW"); cars.add("Ford"); cars.add("Mazda"); cars.add(2, "Toyota"); System.out.println(cars); } }
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iO Flood
ioflood.com โ€บ blog โ€บ java-list-add
Adding Elements to a List in Java: A How-To Guide
February 27, 2024 - In this comprehensive guide, weโ€™ve delved into the usage of the add() method in Java, an essential tool for manipulating lists. We began with the basics, understanding how to use the add() method to append elements to a list.
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Vultr
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November 29, 2024 - Use the add() method to append an element at the end of the list. ... import java.util.ArrayList; public class Main { public static void main(String[] args) { ArrayList<String> fruits = new ArrayList<>(); fruits.add("Apple"); fruits.add("Banana"); ...
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May 27, 2025 - Use the add and addAll methods to add elements in LinkedList in Java. An index can be used in both the add and addAll methods to indicate where in the list the element(s) should be appended.
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LabEx
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How to append elements to dynamic lists | LabEx
Learn effective techniques for appending elements to dynamic lists in Java, exploring performance optimization and best practices for list manipulation
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Java ArrayList add() Method with Examples - GeeksforGeeks
March 14, 2026 - import java.util.*; public class GFG { public static void main(String[] args) { // Creating an empty ArrayList ArrayList<Integer> al = new ArrayList<>(); // Use add() method to // add elements in the list al.add(10); al.add(20); al.add(30); ...
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CodingTechRoom
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How to Append One List to Another List in Java - CodingTechRoom
Use List's `addAll()` method for appending elements. Consider using `Stream.concat()` for a functional approach. Utilize a loop for custom appending logic. Mistake: Using the `+=` operator for appending; not applicable in Java Lists.
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How to do in Java
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Java ArrayList.addAll() - Add Multiple Items to a List
August 7, 2023 - Java ArrayList.addAll(collection) appends all of the elements of the specified collection at the end of the current ArrayList. The order of appended elements is the same as they are returned by the argument collectionโ€™s Iterator.
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BeginnersBook
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Append all the elements of a List to LinkedList โ€“ Java
September 11, 2022 - Program to add all the elements of a List to the LinkedList using addAll() method of LinkedList class. import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.LinkedList; import java.util.List; class LinkedListAddAll { public static void main(String[] args) { // create a LinkedList LinkedList<String> ...
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Dot Net Perls
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Java - ArrayList add and addAll - Dot Net Perls
We first append strings with values "cat" and "dog" to the end of the ArrayList. Then We invoke add() with two arguments. The first argument is 0. This means we want to insert "bird" at the first index. import java.util.ArrayList; public class Program { public static void main(String[] args) { // Create an ArrayList and add two strings. ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<>(); list.add("cat"); list.add("dog"); System.out.println(list); // Add a String at index 0.
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w3resource
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Java: Append the specified element to the end of a linked list
May 22, 2025 - import java.util.LinkedList; public class Exercise1 { public static void main(String[] args) { // create an empty linked list LinkedList<String> l_list = new LinkedList<String>(); // use add() method to add values in the linked list ...
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Reddit
reddit.com โ€บ r/learnprogramming โ€บ hi, quick java question on how to append items to lists, and work on them.
r/learnprogramming on Reddit: Hi, Quick Java question on how to append items to lists, and work on them.
December 23, 2015 -

Thanks for all your help so far on Java. I am moving on to a more complicated problem. In order to solve this, I want to create a list that holds numbers (list of numbers), and then I want to run a function through that list and add each element.

I am very new the lists, so to start off, how can I define a list, and add items the list? If direct questions are not welcomed, feel free to direct me to some resources!

Thank you!