How to access fields from an array of arrays in Java - java

import java.util.*;
class Cube{
int width;
int height;
public Cube(int width, int height){
this.width = width;
this.height = height;
}
public String toString(){
String s = "[" + width + "," + height + "]";
return s;
}
}
class myClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LinkedList<Cube>[] myCubes;
myCubes = new LinkedList[3];
myCubes[0] = new LinkedList<Cube>();
myCubes[1] = new LinkedList<Cube>();
myCubes[2] = new LinkedList<Cube>();
myCubes[0].add(new Cube(5,2));
myCubes[0].add(new Cube(3,6));
myCubes[1].add(new Cube(3,3));
myCubes[1].add(new Cube(2,2));
myCubes[2].add(new Cube(1,2));
myCubes[2].add(new Cube(5,9));
}
}
I understand that I have an array of arrays. However, I can't quite figure out how to access a single value from a Cube instance in the array.
I would appreciate it if you could help show how to access a single field.
For example, how could I individually access the value 6
myCubes[0].add(new Cube(3,6));
I know that with single instances, you use the dot operator such as
myCubes.width;
myCubes.height;
However, I have no idea how to do access single fields from an array of array of instances.
I would truly appreciate your help.
Thank you

As the others showed you already in the comments.
I tried it out by myself.
If it would be an array of arrays you could simply use
myCubes[0][1].height
But as the LinkedList is not an Array but an Linked List you need to use the get method of linked list to get your element from the list.
System.out.print(myCubes[0].get(1).height);

LinkedList<Cube>[] myCubes ... I understand that I have an array of arrays
No, this not array of arrays, this is array of LinkedList. To
access list you need myCubes[index]
but to access elements from list you need *someList*.get(index).
If we combine those two we get something like myCubes[0].get(1) (just like you did with myCubes[0].add(new Cube(3,6)); where you needed to use add method on a list to put Cube in it).
But generally we should avoid generic types and arrays. Arrays would like to guarantee that they hold only valid values, so they are checking at runtime type of elements which are placed in it to see if they match type of array. For instance while this code will compile:
String[] strArray = new String[10];
Object[] objArr = strArray;
objArr[0] = new Integer(1);
we will get at runtime ArrayStoreException because we attempted to place Integer into array which was supposed to hold only Strings (even if we did it via Object[] reference, type of array is still String[] because that is what we decided on at new String[size]).
But problem with generics is that they are erased at runtime. Because of that it is possible to have code like
List<String> strList = new ArrayList<>();
Object o = strList;
List<Integer> intList = (List<Integer>) o;
intList.add(1);
System.out.println(strList);//this prints [1] !!!
So as you see generic types aren't really that safe (its safety exists mainly at compilation time) so arrays don't like them because they reduce their safety.
So instead of arrays you should use another List like List<List<Cube>>. This way compiler will not complain about mixing arrays and generic types (because there will be no more arrays - at least in our code). Your code using lists can look like:
List<List<Cube>> myCubes = new ArrayList<>();
myCubes.add(new LinkedList<>());
myCubes.add(new LinkedList<>());
myCubes.add(new LinkedList<>());
myCubes.get(0).add(new Cube(5,2));
myCubes.get(0).add(new Cube(3,6));
myCubes.get(1).add(new Cube(3,3));
myCubes.get(1).add(new Cube(2,2));
myCubes.get(2).add(new Cube(1,2));
myCubes.get(2).add(new Cube(5,9));
System.out.println(myCubes.get(0).get(1).width);
System.out.println(myCubes.get(0).get(1).height);
System.out.println(myCubes.get(0).get(1));

Related

How do I add arrays to an Arraylist of Arrays (Arraylist<Integer[]>)

I want to save the steps pf my player-character in a Sokoban-game.
So at first i want to fill an Array of int x and y, called "pos" with the actual position of the character.
And than i want to add this array to an ArrayList of Arrays, called "moves".
Array for one player-position:
int[] pos = new int [2];
ArrayList for all steps, the player made in the level:
Arraylist<Integer[]> moves = new ArrayList<>();
"int[]" makes an error, if placed inside the pointy brackets at the ArrayList.
How do i add the Array pos to the ArrayList moves?
This works completely fine with int[]. However int[] != Integer[], Use same in both places.
int[] pos = new int[2];
ArrayList<int[]> arrayList = new ArrayList<>();
pos[0] = 1;
pos[1] = 2;
arrayList.add(pos);
System.out.println(arrayList.get(0)[0]+ " "+ arrayList.get(0)[1]);
int and Integer are two different things (I struggled with this as well when I first learned Java a long time ago.
int is a so-called primitive datatype, which means it is not an object. Integer is a wrapper class, basically a class whose only purpose is to contain an
int so that it can be handled as an object. Since Java 5, there is "autoboxing", which means you can assign int values to Integer variables and vice versa, and the compiler will handle it silently. This tends to muddle the difference, but it still is there and important - such as in this case.
So if you want to store instances of int[] in an ArrayList, you need an ArrayList<int[]>, not an ArrayList<Integer[]>.
However, it is impossible to have an ArrayList<int> because ArrayList can only store Objects (the generic types exist only for the compiler), not primitives.
Oh yes, and to add an element to the list, use
Arraylist<int[]> moves = new ArrayList<>();
arrayList.add(pos);
You could have found this in the API doc for ArrayList - you should really learn to use the API doc, you will need it all the time to answer questions such as this.
You can also make class (for example Pos) and make x and y as attributes and make constructor. The you can make the type of arraylist is Pos
ArrayList arrayList = new ArrayList<>();
arrayList.add(new Pos(3,2));

Can individual array references be made final? [duplicate]

Is there an immutable alternative to the primitive arrays in Java? Making a primitive array final doesn't actually prevent one from doing something like
final int[] array = new int[] {0, 1, 2, 3};
array[0] = 42;
I want the elements of the array to be unchangeable.
Not with primitive arrays. You'll need to use a List or some other data structure:
List<Integer> items = Collections.unmodifiableList(Arrays.asList(0,1,2,3));
My recommendation is to not use an array or an unmodifiableList but to use Guava's ImmutableList, which exists for this purpose.
ImmutableList<Integer> values = ImmutableList.of(0, 1, 2, 3);
As others have noted, you can't have immutable arrays in Java.
If you absolutely need a method that returns an array that doesn't influence the original array, then you'd need to clone the array each time:
public int[] getFooArray() {
return fooArray == null ? null : fooArray.clone();
}
Obviously this is rather expensive (as you'll create a full copy each time you call the getter), but if you can't change the interface (to use a List for example) and can't risk the client changing your internals, then it may be necessary.
This technique is called making a defensive copy.
There is one way to make an immutable array in Java:
final String[] IMMUTABLE = new String[0];
Arrays with 0 elements (obviously) cannot be mutated.
This can actually come in handy if you are using the List.toArray method to convert a List to an array. Since even an empty array takes up some memory, you can save that memory allocation by creating a constant empty array, and always passing it to the toArray method. That method will allocate a new array if the array you pass doesn't have enough space, but if it does (the list is empty), it will return the array you passed, allowing you to reuse that array any time you call toArray on an empty List.
final static String[] EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY = new String[0];
List<String> emptyList = new ArrayList<String>();
return emptyList.toArray(EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY); // returns EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY
As of Java 9 you can use List.of(...), JavaDoc.
This method returns an immutable List and is very efficient.
Another one answer
static class ImmutableArray<T> {
private final T[] array;
private ImmutableArray(T[] a){
array = Arrays.copyOf(a, a.length);
}
public static <T> ImmutableArray<T> from(T[] a){
return new ImmutableArray<T>(a);
}
public T get(int index){
return array[index];
}
}
{
final ImmutableArray<String> sample = ImmutableArray.from(new String[]{"a", "b", "c"});
}
Since Guava 22, from package com.google.common.primitives you can use three new classes, which have a lower memory footprint compared to ImmutableList.
ImmutableIntArray
ImmutableLongArray
ImmutableDoubleArray
They also have a builder. Example:
int size = 2;
ImmutableLongArray longArray = ImmutableLongArray.builder(size)
.add(1L)
.add(2L)
.build();
or, if the size is known at compile-time:
ImmutableLongArray longArray = ImmutableLongArray.of(1L, 2L);
This is another way of getting an immutable view of an array for Java primitives.
If you need (for performance reason or to save memory) native 'int' instead of 'java.lang.Integer', then you would probably need to write your own wrapper class. There are various IntArray implementations on the net, but none (I found) was immutable: Koders IntArray, Lucene IntArray. There are probably others.
The of(E... elements) method in Java9 can be used to create immutable list using just a line:
List<Integer> items = List.of(1,2,3,4,5);
The above method returns an immutable list containing an arbitrary number of elements. And adding any integer to this list would result in java.lang.UnsupportedOperationExceptionexception. This method also accepts a single array as an argument.
String[] array = ... ;
List<String[]> list = List.<String[]>of(array);
No, this is not possible. However, one could do something like this:
List<Integer> temp = new ArrayList<Integer>();
temp.add(Integer.valueOf(0));
temp.add(Integer.valueOf(2));
temp.add(Integer.valueOf(3));
temp.add(Integer.valueOf(4));
List<Integer> immutable = Collections.unmodifiableList(temp);
This requires using wrappers, and is a List, not an array, but is the closest you will get.
In some situations, it will be lighter weight to use this static method from Google Guava library: List<Integer> Ints.asList(int... backingArray)
Examples:
List<Integer> x1 = Ints.asList(0, 1, 2, 3)
List<Integer> x1 = Ints.asList(new int[] { 0, 1, 2, 3})
If you want to avoid both mutability and boxing, there is no way out of the box. But you can create a class which holds primitive array inside and provides read-only access to elements via method(s).
Implement java.util.function.IntUnaryOperator:
class ImmutableArray implements IntUnaryOperator {
private final int[] array;
ImmutableArray(int[] array) {
this.array = Arrays.copyOf(array, array.length);
}
#Override
public int applyAsInt(int index) {
return array[index];
}
}
Access the array: array[i] becomes immutableArray.applyAsInt(i).
I benchmarked primitive for loop retrieval with a modulus operation with 100_000_000 elements. The above PrimitiveArray took ~220ms; there was no significant difference with a primitive array. The same op on ArrayList took 480 ms, and the loading process took 21 seconds, depleted my heap space first try, and I had to increase this setting on the JVM. Loading of PrimitiveArray had taken 2 seconds.
iteration
if you want to iterate, implement Iterable and provide
public java.util.PrimitiveIterator.OfInt iterator() { return Arrays.stream(array).iterator(); }
This provides access to int nextInt method.
From PrimitiveIterator you also get method forEachRemaining(PrimitiveConsumer) which is helpful to replace an existing enhanced for loop.
Iterating manually with PrimitiveIterator.OfInt yielded performance of ~300ms.
While it's true that Collections.unmodifiableList() works, sometimes you may have a large library having methods already defined to return arrays (e.g. String[]).
To prevent breaking them, you can actually define auxiliary arrays that will store the values:
public class Test {
private final String[] original;
private final String[] auxiliary;
/** constructor */
public Test(String[] _values) {
original = new String[_values.length];
// Pre-allocated array.
auxiliary = new String[_values.length];
System.arraycopy(_values, 0, original, 0, _values.length);
}
/** Get array values. */
public String[] getValues() {
// No need to call clone() - we pre-allocated auxiliary.
System.arraycopy(original, 0, auxiliary, 0, original.length);
return auxiliary;
}
}
To test:
Test test = new Test(new String[]{"a", "b", "C"});
System.out.println(Arrays.asList(test.getValues()));
String[] values = test.getValues();
values[0] = "foobar";
// At this point, "foobar" exist in "auxiliary" but since we are
// copying "original" to "auxiliary" for each call, the next line
// will print the original values "a", "b", "c".
System.out.println(Arrays.asList(test.getValues()));
Not perfect, but at least you have "pseudo immutable arrays" (from the class perspective) and this will not break related code.
Well.. arrays are useful to pass as constants (if they were) as variants parameters.

What is the best way to convert a raw vector to type safe list(Arraylist)

I have a function that return a raw vector. I know that all the elements in the vector are string but the code stays for leagacy reasons. I want to get a arraylist from this data.
One naive way is to iterate the vector and add elements to the list. Is there any short way of doing it which can prevent looping. Or may be a direct function which enables this.
Edit:
Example:
Vector f1() {} //f1 returns raw vector
I want to achieve the following:
List<String> l = new ArrayList<String>();
Vector vec = f1();
for(Object obj: vec) {
l.add((String) obj);
}
Note: I have not checked if the above code compiles. Please treat it as a pseudo code
If you are 100% sure the Vector only contains Strings, the simplest way is:
List<String> list = new ArrayList<>(vector);
Note that this will compile and run fine, even if you Vector contains other types of objects. However this:
list.get(i);
will throw a ClassCastException if the i-th element was not a String.
Since you have a raw Vector you will get warnings. If you want to get rid of them you can use:
#SuppressWarnings(value = {"unchecked", "rawtypes"})
public static List<String> rawVectorToList(Vector v) {
return new ArrayList<>(v);
}
An alternative to detect casting issues fast is to copy the array manually (what the copy constructor does under the hood):
Vector v = ...;
String[] elements = Arrays.copyOf(v.toArray(), v.size(), String[].class);
List<String> list = Arrays.asList(elements);
or if you need the list to be mutable:
List<String> list = new ArrayList<> (Arrays.asList(elements));
This has the benefit of checking the type at copy time.

Can someone break down this line so I can understand it?

I'm having trouble understanding how an array of ArrayLists is initialized in Java, can someone explain what's going on in this line of code?
edges = (ArrayList<Integer>[]) new ArrayList[nodeCount + 1];
Let's break it space-by-space.
edges is a variable of type ArrayList<Integer>[]
= is the assign operator which assignes the right-hand to the left-hand
(ArrayList<Integer>[]) is a cast of a variable to the type.
new ArrayList[nodeCount + 1] means we allocate space for an array of ArrayList with nodeCount+1 unknown elements.
This is a very bad way of initializing an array. What it does is it creates an array and makes the elements into Integers.
An alternative:
edges = new ArrayList<Integer>(nodeCount+1);
Explanation: The ArrayList class has a constructor which can specify its length*, this is what I use here.
Note: According to #Rohit Jain, it doesn't specify the length, but the initial capacity.
You cannot create an array whose component type is parameterized type. It's not type safe. Although you can create an array whose component type is raw type, but that won't be type safe either. Consider the following example:
List<Integer>[] list = null; // Declaration is OK
list = new ArrayList<Integer>[5]; // Compiler error: Generic array creation
list = new ArrayList[5]; // Compiles fine. But not safe. Gives warning
Suppose you created an array of raw types. Let's see what can be the implication:
List<Integer>[] list = new ArrayList[10]; // Not type safe
Object[] objArr = list; // We can assign List<Integer>[] to Object[]
// We can add even ArrayList<String> in Object[]
// This will successfully compile, and run.
objArr[0] = new ArrayList<String>() {
{
add("rohit"); add("jain");
}
};
// Here's the problem. It will compile fine, but at runtime will throw
// ClassCastException
Integer val = list[0].get(0);
Alternative is create a List of List:
List<List<Integer>> edges = new ArrayList<List<Integer>>();
Suggested Read: -
Angelika Langer Generic FAQs:
Can I create an array whose component type is a concrete parameterized type?
Can I declare a reference variable of an array type whose component type is a concrete parameterized type?
In the above line you are creating an array of ArrayList, you could replace ArrayList by a more simple type to help you to understand, e.g. an array of String:
edges = (String[]) new String[nodeCount + 1];
nodeCount + 1 corresponds to size of the array. The array can't have more than this number of elements.
Note that using an array of a parametrized ArrayList is quite strange and prone to misunderstanding and errors. I would use a List<List<Integer>> here, e.g.:
edges = new ArrayList<List<Integer>>();
this line defines an array, like any other array out there: exampe new Object[0], new String[0], ...
and just like any other array, the values will be initiated with the null value. for primitive types is that '0', for objects/classes is that null.
so you should initiate the different arraylists before using it like:
edges = new ArrayList<Integer>[nodeCount + 1];
for(int i=0; i<edges.length; i++){
edges[i] = new ArrayList<Integer>();
}
This does not initialize an ArrayList -- it initializes an array of ArrayLists:
new ArrayList[nodeCount + 1] = create an array of ArrayList objects with nodeCount + 1 slots
(ArrayList<Integer>[]) = cast it to an "array of ArrayList objects which in turn may only contain Integer objects". This is needed because the array declaration syntax of java apparently can't handle generics (just tried it -- I never needed this before).
It could be a misunderstanding, and the writer actually wanted to initialize one ArrayList with a capacity of nodeCount+ 1. The correct code for that would be
edges = new ArrayList<Integer>(nodeCount + 1);
Actually the capacity parameter is just an optimization, since ArrayList objects grow automatically as needed. But if you already know how many entries you need, the List can be created with enough capacity from the start.
new ArrayList[nodeCount + 1]
create a new array of ArrayList, its length is nodeCount + 1;
then
(ArrayList<Integer>[])
is a cast operation, it casts the array you just created into an array of ArrayList<Integer>

Confused about arrayList

I got this line of code when I asked the teacher for some help, but I get a redline below the last part. What could be wrong? The error message: "The type of the expression must be an array type but it resolved to ArrayList" I don't understand that, please help me to understand.
ArrayList<Point>[] touchPoints = new ArrayList<Point>()[2];
I want to have two lists to save Points. I guess I call each list like touchPoints[0]; and touchPoints[1]; !?
EDIT:
I guess I can keep it simple and just use two different List like this!?:
points1 = new ArrayList<Point>();
points2 = new ArrayList<Point>();
You have created an array of ArrayLists. This demo shows how they are used together
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class ArraysAndLists {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String>[] touchPoints = new ArrayList[2];
// Adding values
touchPoints[0] = new ArrayList<String>();
touchPoints[0].add("one string in the first ArrayList");
touchPoints[0].add("another string in the first ArrayList");
touchPoints[1] = new ArrayList<String>();
touchPoints[1].add("one string in the second ArrayList");
touchPoints[1].add("another string in the second ArrayList");
// touchPoints[2].add("This will give out of bounds, the array only holds two lists");
// Reading values
System.out.println(touchPoints[0].get(0)); // returns "one string in the first ArrayList"
System.out.println(touchPoints[1].get(1)); // returns "another string in the second ArrayList"
}
}
check out this Question
The component type of an array object may not be a type variable or a parameterized type, unless it is an (unbounded) wildcard type.You can declare array types whose element type is a type variable or a parameterized type, but not array objects.
You are mixing two things:
Constructing a plain array
Constructing an ArrayList
Constructing an array
A plain array is very low level. Does not have methods, and its length is fixed after you create it.
MyType[] anArray = new MyType[10];
Constructing an ArrayList
ArrayList is just an implementation of a type of Collection
Collection<MyItemType> aCollection = new ArrayList<MyItemType>();
What to do in your case?
You want a plain array of collections (which implementation is ArrayList). So:
// Create the array, use the interface in case you need to change the implementation later on
Collection<Point>[] touchPoints = (Collection<Point>) new Collection[2];
// Create each collection within that array, using the ArrayList implementation
touchPoints[0] = new ArrayList<Point>();
touchPoints[1] = new ArrayList<Point>();
How to do it better?
Try to think about why you need a plain array:
if it's just 2 elements, and always fixed, simply create two member variables.
if number can vary, just create a Collection of Collections (Collection>)
Edit given your use case:
Just create a class to hold your user input:
class UserInput {
public UserInput() {
user1TouchPoints = new ArrayList<Point>();
user2TouchPoints = new ArrayList<Point>();
}
// Add accessors and all
private Collection<Point> user1TouchPoints;
private Collection<Point> user2TouchPoints;
}
If you plan to have more players, simply use a map
class UserInput {
public UserInput() {
usersTouchPoints = new HashMap<Integer, Collection<Point>>();
}
public Collection<Point> getUserTouchPoints(Integer userId) {
return usersTouchPoints.get(userId);
}
public void addUserTouchPoints(Integer userId, Collection<Point> input) {
Collection<Point> points = usersTouchPoints.get(userId);
if (points==null) {
points = new ArrayList<Point>();
userTouchPoints.put(userId, points);
}
points.addAll(input);
}
// Maps a user ID (or index) to its touch points
// If you are using Android, use SparseArray instead of Map, this is more efficient
private Map<Integer, Collection<Point>> usersTouchPoints;
}

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