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Array vs. ArrayList in Java 
Array vs. ArrayList in Java
In Java programming, there are two ways to create an array.
-
Array: Is a simple fixed-size data structure which requires a size at the time of creation. -
ArrayList: Is a dynamic sized data structure which doesn’t require a specific size at the time of initialization.
Array
An Array can contain both primitive data types or objects of a class depending on the definition of the array. But it has a fixed size.
Example
// Importing the required librariesimport java.util.Arrays;class Array{public static void main(String args[]){/* ...........Array............. */// Fixed size.// Cannot add more than 3 elements.int[] arr = new int[3];arr[0] = 5;arr[1] = 6;arr[2] = 10;// PrintingSystem.out.println(Arrays.toString(arr));}}
ArrayList
An ArrayList can’t be created for primitive data types. It only contains an object. It has the ability to grow and shrink dynamically.
- Remember that in Java, every primitive data type has a wrapper class.
| Primitive | Wrapper class |
| — | — |
|
int|Integer| |short|Short| |byte|Byte| |char|Character| |float|Float|
Example
// Importing required librariesimport java.util.ArrayList;class Array_List{public static void main(String args[]){/*............ArrayList..............*/// Variable size.// Can add more elements.ArrayList<Integer> arr = new ArrayList<Integer>();arr.add(5);arr.add(9);arr.add(11);// PrintingSystem.out.println(arr);}}
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