Java ArrayList toArray() Method

❮ ArrayList Methods

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    ArrayList cars = new ArrayList();
    cars.add("Volvo");
    cars.add("BMW");
    cars.add("Ford");
    cars.add("Mazda");
    
    Object[] carsArray = cars.toArray();
    
    for(Object item : carsArray) {
      System.out.println(item);
    }
  }
}

Definition and Usage

The toArray() method returns an array containing all of the items in the list.

If no argument is passed then the type of the returned array will be Object. If an array is passed as an argument then this method will return an array with the same data type.

If the array in the argument is large enough to contain all of the list items then this method will return the argument itself after writing the list items into it.

Syntax

One of the following:

public Object[] toArray()

public T[] toArray(T[] array)

T refers to the data type of items in the list.

Parameter Values

Technical Details

More Examples

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");
    
    String[] carsArray = new String[4];
    carsArray = cars.toArray(carsArray);
    
    for(String item : carsArray) {
      System.out.println(item);
    }
  }
}

Related Pages

Java Arrays Tutorial

Java ArrayList Tutorial