No you can't change the size of an array once created. You either have to allocate it bigger than you think you'll need or accept the overhead of having to reallocate it needs to grow in size. When it does you'll have to allocate a new one and copy the data from the old to the new:
int[] oldItems = new int[10];
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
oldItems[i] = i + 10;
}
int[] newItems = new int[20];
System.arraycopy(oldItems, 0, newItems, 0, 10);
oldItems = newItems;
If you find yourself in this situation, I'd highly recommend using the Java Collections instead. In particular ArrayList essentially wraps an array and takes care of the logic for growing the array as required:
List<XClass> myclass = new ArrayList<XClass>();
myclass.add(new XClass());
myclass.add(new XClass());
Generally an ArrayList is a preferable solution to an array anyway for several reasons. For one thing, arrays are mutable. If you have a class that does this:
class Myclass {
private int[] items;
public int[] getItems() {
return items;
}
}
you've created a problem as a caller can change your private data member, which leads to all sorts of defensive copying. Compare this to the List version:
class Myclass {
private List<Integer> items;
public List<Integer> getItems() {
return Collections.unmodifiableList(items);
}
}
Answer from cletus on Stack OverflowNo you can't change the size of an array once created. You either have to allocate it bigger than you think you'll need or accept the overhead of having to reallocate it needs to grow in size. When it does you'll have to allocate a new one and copy the data from the old to the new:
int[] oldItems = new int[10];
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
oldItems[i] = i + 10;
}
int[] newItems = new int[20];
System.arraycopy(oldItems, 0, newItems, 0, 10);
oldItems = newItems;
If you find yourself in this situation, I'd highly recommend using the Java Collections instead. In particular ArrayList essentially wraps an array and takes care of the logic for growing the array as required:
List<XClass> myclass = new ArrayList<XClass>();
myclass.add(new XClass());
myclass.add(new XClass());
Generally an ArrayList is a preferable solution to an array anyway for several reasons. For one thing, arrays are mutable. If you have a class that does this:
class Myclass {
private int[] items;
public int[] getItems() {
return items;
}
}
you've created a problem as a caller can change your private data member, which leads to all sorts of defensive copying. Compare this to the List version:
class Myclass {
private List<Integer> items;
public List<Integer> getItems() {
return Collections.unmodifiableList(items);
}
}
In java array length is fixed.
You can use a List to hold the values and invoke the toArray method if needed
See the following sample:
import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Random;
public class A {
public static void main( String [] args ) {
// dynamically hold the instances
List<xClass> list = new ArrayList<xClass>();
// fill it with a random number between 0 and 100
int elements = new Random().nextInt(100);
for( int i = 0 ; i < elements ; i++ ) {
list.add( new xClass() );
}
// convert it to array
xClass [] array = list.toArray( new xClass[ list.size() ] );
System.out.println( "size of array = " + array.length );
}
}
class xClass {}
How can I make a dynamic array in Java? - Stack Overflow
I can't wrap my head up around Dynamic Arrays
Dynamic array in java - Stack Overflow
Variable length (Dynamic) Arrays in Java - Stack Overflow
Can a dynamic array in Java (specifically ArrayList) effectively store null elements?
How does initial capacity influence the performance of a dynamic array in Java?
What performance trade-offs exist between using ArrayList versus a fixed-size raw array in Java?
Videos
You can't make dynamic array in java.
For that you will have to use List or ArrayList.
We will have to provide the size of array before application run or at coding time, while arrayList gives us facility to add data while we need it, so it's size will automatically increased when we add data.
Example :
import java.util.*;
public class ArrayListDemo {
public static void main(String args[]) {
// create an array list
ArrayList al = new ArrayList();
System.out.println("Initial size of al: " + al.size());
// add elements to the array list
al.add("C");
al.add("A");
al.add("E");
al.add("B");
al.add("D");
al.add("F");
al.add(1, "A2");
System.out.println("Size of al after additions: " + al.size());
// display the array list
System.out.println("Contents of al: " + al);
// Remove elements from the array list
al.remove("F");
al.remove(2);
System.out.println("Size of al after deletions: " + al.size());
System.out.println("Contents of al: " + al);
}
}
this example is from here.
UPDATE :
When you define your list as:
List myList = new ArrayList();
you can only call methods and reference members that belong to List class. If you define it as:
ArrayList myList = new ArrayList();
you'll be able to invoke ArrayList specific methods and use ArrayList specific members in addition to those inherited from List.
List is not a class it is an interface. It doesn't have any methods implemented. So if you call a method on a List reference, you in fact calling the method of ArrayList in both cases.
Using some kind of List is a better choice, as it basically does what you want (can grow and shrink), in fact, ArrayList is just that, a dynamic array.
You can hand roll your own if you can't use a List using System.arraycopy
For example, this will grow or shrink an array to match the size you provide...
public String[] updateArray(String[] src, int size) {
String[] dest = new String[size];
if (size > src.length) {
System.arraycopy(src, 0, dest, 0, src.length);
} else {
System.arraycopy(src, 0, dest, 0, size);
}
return dest;
}
Again... List is easier...
Recently I have been learning data structures I understand the concept but not 100% and in java I didn't understand the code that the guy in the video I have been watching to learn it so can any one help me with this (Sorry for my English)
An array of dynamic size isn't possible in Java - you have to either know the size before you declare it, or do resizing operations on the array (which can be painful).
Instead, use an ArrayList<Integer>, and if you need it as an array, you can convert it back.
List<Integer> sum = new ArrayList<>();
for(int i = 0; i < upperBound; i++) {
sum.add(i);
}
// necessary to convert back to Integer[]
Integer[] sumArray = sum.toArray(new Integer[0]);
This is for getting rid of compile-time error:
int sum[] = null;
However, to prevent runtime-errors I strongly suggest you to initialize your array like this:
int[] sum = new int[10];
The number in brackets denotes the array size.
And if your size is dynamic, then use a List implementation, such as ArrayList.
Yes: use ArrayList.
In Java, "normal" arrays are fixed-size. You have to give them a size and can't expand them or contract them. To change the size, you have to make a new array and copy the data you want - which is inefficient and a pain for you.
Fortunately, there are all kinds of built-in classes that implement common data structures, and other useful tools too. You'll want to check the Java 6 API for a full list of them.
One caveat: ArrayList can only hold objects (e.g. Integers), not primitives (e.g. ints). In MOST cases, autoboxing/autounboxing will take care of this for you silently, but you could get some weird behavior depending on what you're doing.
Arrays in Java are of fixed size. What you'd need is an ArrayList, one of a number of extremely valuable Collections available in Java.
Instead of
Integer[] ints = new Integer[x]
you use
List<Integer> ints = new ArrayList<Integer>();
Then to change the list you use ints.add(y) and ints.remove(z) amongst many other handy methods you can find in the appropriate Javadocs.
I strongly recommend studying the Collections classes available in Java as they are very powerful and give you a lot of builtin functionality that Java-newbies tend to try to rewrite themselves unnecessarily.