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Combine ArraysUse for-loops and Collections.addAll to combine arrays into a single array.
Java
This page was last reviewed on Jun 7, 2023.
Combine arrays. Two arrays exist. We can combine them into a third array. We can do this in different ways. Some are more efficient, and others have simpler syntax.
By creating another array, we can copy all elements into a single region of storage. For-loops can be used to quickly copy these elements.
For-loop example. Let us begin with this example. We have two arrays—they can have any number of elements, but in this example they both have 6 elements.
For
Info We create a new array called "merged." This must have the total number of elements required.
Then In the first for-loop we copy the first elements into the merged array. The second for-loop must use an offset.
Tip The offset for the second for-loop ensures we do not overwrite the elements from the first array.
import java.util.Arrays; public class Program { public static void main(String[] args) { int[] array1 = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }; int[] array2 = { 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 }; // Create empty array of required length. int[] merged = new int[array1.length + array2.length]; // Copy first array into new array. for (int i = 0; i < array1.length; i++) { merged[i] = array1[i]; } // Copy second array into new array. // ... Use offset to assign elements. for (int i = 0; i < array2.length; i++) { merged[array1.length + i] = array2[i]; } // Print results. System.out.println(Arrays.toString(array1)); System.out.println(Arrays.toString(array2)); System.out.println(Arrays.toString(merged)); } }
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5] [5, 4, 3, 2, 1] [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
Collections.addAll. This approach is a little simpler. We create an ArrayList of the required element type. Then we use Collections.addAll to add both arrays to it.
ArrayList, String
Finally We can convert our ArrayList back into a single array with the toArray method.
Note We must pass an array reference to the toArray method. This is where our new array will be placed.
import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.Collections; public class Program { public static void main(String[] args) { // Two string arrays we want to combine. String[] array1 = { "cat", "bird", "fish" }; String[] array2 = { "ant", "bee" }; System.out.println(Arrays.toString(array1)); System.out.println(Arrays.toString(array2)); // Create an ArrayList. // ... Add all string arrays with addAll. ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<>(); Collections.addAll(list, array1); Collections.addAll(list, array2); // Display ArrayList contents. System.out.println(list.toString()); // Convert ArrayList to String array. // ... This is the final merged array. String[] merged = new String[list.size()]; list.toArray(merged); System.out.println(Arrays.toString(merged)); } }
[cat, bird, fish] [ant, bee] [cat, bird, fish, ant, bee] [cat, bird, fish, ant, bee]
Notes, Collections.addAll. With Collections.addAll, we cannot add int arrays to an ArrayList of Integers. For int arrays, using for-loops is a better solution.
Collections.addAll
ArrayList, ints
With for-loops or an ArrayList and Collections.addAll we can combine arrays. For more than two arrays, Collections.addAll may be simpler—fewer offsets will be needed.
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Sam Allen is passionate about computer languages. In the past, his work has been recommended by Apple and Microsoft and he has studied computers at a selective university in the United States.
This page was last updated on Jun 7, 2023 (edit).
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