How To Convert List To String In Java

In Java, you can convert a list of strings to a single string in several ways. One common approach is to use the StringBuilder class, which provides an efficient way to concatenate strings.

Another approach is to use the join method introduced in Java 8, which provides a more concise way to concatenate strings.

Approaches for converting list to string in java

There are several approaches to convert a list of strings to a single string in Java including:

1. Using StringBuilder: This is a commonly used approach, where you can use a StringBuilder object to append each element of the list to a string and finally convert it to a string using the toString method.

Sample Code:

List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
for (String s : list) {
    builder.append(s).append(", ");
}
// remove the last ", "
builder.setLength(builder.length() - 2);
String result = builder.toString();

2. Using StringJoiner: This is another approach introduced in Java 8, where you can use a StringJoiner object to concatenate the elements of a list separated by a specified delimiter.

Sample Code:

List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");
StringJoiner joiner = new StringJoiner(", ");
for (String s : list) {
    joiner.add(s);
}
String result = joiner.toString();

3. Using join method: This is a concise way to concatenate the elements of a list using the join method.

Sample Code:

List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");
String result = String.join(", ", list);

4. Using Stream API: This approach uses the Stream API to concatenate the elements of a list into a string.

Sample Code:

List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");
String result = list.stream().collect(Collectors.joining(", "));

Approach 1: Using StringBuilder

It is an example of converting a list of strings to a single string using the StringBuilder class in Java:

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of strings
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");

        // create a StringBuilder object
        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();

        // loop through each element in the list and append it to the StringBuilder
        for (String s : list) {
            builder.append(s).append(", ");
        }

        // remove the last ", "
        builder.setLength(builder.length() - 2);

        // convert the StringBuilder to a string
        String result = builder.toString();

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Explanation of code:

  • The List object list is created with three elements: “apple”, “banana”, and “cherry”.
  • A StringBuilder object builder is created to concatenate the elements of the list.
  • The for loop is used to iterate over the elements of the list and append each element to the builder followed by a comma and a space.
  • The setLength method is used to remove the last comma and space from the end of the string.
  • The toString method is used to convert the StringBuilder object to a string.
  • The result is printed to the console.

Output:

apple, banana, cherry

Approach 2: Using StringJoiner

Here’s an example of converting a list of strings to a single string using the StringJoiner class in Java:

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of strings
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");

        // create a StringJoiner object with ", " as the delimiter
        StringJoiner joiner = new StringJoiner(", ");

        // loop through each element in the list and add it to the StringJoiner
        for (String s : list) {
            joiner.add(s);
        }

        // convert the StringJoiner to a string
        String result = joiner.toString();

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Explanation of code:

  • The List object list is created with three elements: “apple”, “banana”, and “cherry”.
  • A StringJoiner object joiner is created with “, ” as the delimiter to separate the elements of the list.
  • The for loop is used to iterate over the elements of the list and add each element to the joiner.
  • The toString method is used to convert the StringJoiner object to a string.
  • The result is printed to the console.

Output:

apple, banana, cherry

Approach 3: Using join method

Here’s an example of converting a list of strings to a single string using the String class’ join method in Java:

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of strings
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");

        // use the join method to concatenate the elements of the list into a string, using ", " as the delimiter
        String result = String.join(", ", list);

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Explanation of code:

  • The List object list is created with three elements: “apple”, “banana”, and “cherry”.
  • The String class’ join method is used to concatenate the elements of the list into a string, using “, ” as the delimiter.
  • The result is stored in the String variable result.
  • The result is printed to the console.

Output:

apple, banana, cherry

Approach 4: Using Stream API

This is an example of converting a list of strings to a single string using the Java 8 Stream API:

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of strings
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");

        // use the Stream API to concatenate the elements of the list into a string, using ", " as the delimiter
        String result = list.stream()
                           .map(Object::toString)
                           .collect(Collectors.joining(", "));

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Explanation of code:

  • The List object list is created with three elements: “apple”, “banana”, and “cherry”.
  • The list is converted to a stream using the stream method.
  • The map method is used to convert each element of the stream to a string.
  • The collect method is used to concatenate the elements of the stream into a string, using “, ” as the delimiter. The Collectors.joining method is used to specify the delimiter.
  • The result is stored in the String variable result.
  • The result is printed to the console.

Output:

apple, banana, cherry

Best Approach for converting list to string in java

The Stream API is considered the best approach for converting a list to a string in Java for several reasons:

  • Conciseness: The Stream API provides a concise and expressive way to manipulate data in Java. The code to convert a list to a string using the Stream API is shorter and easier to read compared to using other approaches like StringBuilder or StringJoiner.
  • Performance: The Stream API is optimized for parallel processing, which can result in significant performance improvements when working with large lists. Additionally, the Stream API can be used with functional programming constructs to avoid mutable data, which can help prevent errors and make the code more maintainable.
  • Flexibility: The Stream API is designed to work with a variety of data sources, including lists, arrays, and maps. This means that it can be used to manipulate data from different sources in a uniform way, which can make the code more modular and reusable.
  • Improved code readability: When using the Stream API, the code is easier to understand because the operations performed on the list are explicit. This makes it easier to maintain the code and make modifications in the future.

Sample Problems converting list to string in java

Sample Problem 1

Write the code for converting a list into a string by using the StringBuilder class using 3 elements with fruit name in the array list.

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of strings
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList("apple", "banana", "cherry");

        // use a StringBuilder to concatenate the elements of the list into a string
        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
        for (int i = 0; i < list.size(); i++) {
            builder.append(list.get(i));
            if (i < list.size() - 1) {
                builder.append(", ");
            }
        }

        // convert the StringBuilder to a string
        String result = builder.toString();

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

apple, banana, cherry

Sample Problem 2

Write the code for converting a list into a string by using the StringJoiner class using 4 elements with city name in the array list.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.StringJoiner;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of city names
        List<String> cities = new ArrayList<>();
        cities.add("New York");
        cities.add("London");
        cities.add("Paris");
        cities.add("Tokyo");

        // create a StringJoiner with a delimiter
        StringJoiner joiner = new StringJoiner(", ");

        // add each element of the list to the StringJoiner
        for (String city : cities) {
            joiner.add(city);
        }

        // convert the StringJoiner to a string
        String result = joiner.toString();

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

New York, London, Paris, Tokyo

Sample Problem 3

Write the code for converting a list into a string by using the Joiner class using 3 elements  with animal name in the array list.

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import com.google.common.base.Joiner;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of animal names
        List<String> animals = Arrays.asList("Lion", "Tiger", "Bear");

        // create a Joiner with a delimiter
        Joiner joiner = Joiner.on(", ");

        // join the elements of the list into a string
        String result = joiner.join(animals);

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

Lion, Tiger, Bear

Sample Problem 4

Write the code for converting a list into a string by using the Stream API using 4 elements  with birds name in the array list.

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;

public class ListToString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // create a list of bird names
        List<String> birds = Arrays.asList("Eagle", "Penguin", "Owl", "Sparrow");

        // convert the list to a string using the Stream API
        String result = birds.stream()
                             .map(Object::toString)
                             .collect(Collectors.joining(", "));

        // print the result
        System.out.println(result);
    }
}

Output:

Eagle, Penguin, Owl, Sparrow

Conclusion

Converting a list into a string means taking a collection of values, stored as elements in a list data structure, and converting them into a single string representation. The goal of this conversion is to produce a human-readable representation of the data in the list, which can be useful for display, storage, or further processing.

The string representation of the list is typically created by concatenating the string representations of each element in the list, separated by some delimiter character. The specific details of the conversion, including the delimiter and the string representation of each element, depend on the use case and the programming language being used.