The simplest way to comma-delimit a list?

Asked 2009-03-21T08:06:29.160

114

What is the clearest way to comma-delimit a list in Java?

I know several ways of doing it, but I'm wondering what the best way is (where "best" means clearest and/or shortest, not the most efficient.

I have a list and I want to loop over it, printing each value. I want to print a comma between each item, but not after the last one (nor before the first one).

List --> Item ( , Item ) *
List --> ( Item , ) * Item

Sample solution 1:

boolean isFirst = true;
for (Item i : list) {
  if (isFirst) {
    System.out.print(i);        // no comma
    isFirst = false;
  } else {
    System.out.print(", "+i);   // comma
  }
}

Sample solution 2 - create a sublist:

if (list.size()>0) {
  System.out.print(list.get(0));   // no comma
  List theRest = list.subList(1, list.size());
  for (Item i : theRest) {
    System.out.print(", "+i);   // comma
  }
}

Sample solution 3:

  Iterator<Item> i = list.iterator();
  if (i.hasNext()) {
    System.out.print(i.next());
    while (i.hasNext())
      System.out.print(", "+i.next());
  }

These treat the first item specially; one could instead treat the last one specially.

Incidentally, here is how List toString is implemented (it's inherited from AbstractCollection), in Java 1.6:

public String toString() {
    Iterator<E> i = iterator();
    if (! i.hasNext())
        return "[]";

    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    sb.append('[');
    for (;;) {
        E e = i.next();
        sb.append(e == this ? "(this Collection)" : e);
        if (! i.hasNext())
            return sb.append(']').toString();
        sb.append(", ");
    }
}

It exits the loop early to avoid the comma after the last item. BTW: this is the first time I recall seeing "(this Collection)"; here's code to

java pretty-print

Edit Report

5 Answers

(Copy paste of my own answer from here.) Many of the solutions described here are a bit over the top, IMHO, especially those that rely on external libraries. There is a nice clean, clear idiom for achieving a comma separated list that I have always used. It relies on the conditional (?) operator:

Edit: Original solution correct, but non-optimal according to comments. Trying a second time:

int[] array = {1, 2, 3};
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
for (int i = 0 ;  i < array.length; i++)
       builder.append(i == 0 ? "" : ",").append(array[i]);

There you go, in 4 lines of code including the declaration of the array and the StringBuilder.

2nd Edit: If you are dealing with an Iterator:

    List<Integer> list = Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3);
    StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
    for (Iterator it = list.iterator(); it.hasNext();)
        builder.append(it.next()).append(it.hasNext() ? "," : "");

answered 2009-03-21T19:32:44.580

I somewhat like this approach, which I found on a blog some time ago. Unfortunately I don't remember the blog's name/URL.

You can create a utility/helper class that looks like this:

private class Delimiter
{
    private final String delimiter;
    private boolean first = true;

    public Delimiter(String delimiter)
    {
        this.delimiter = delimiter;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString()
    {
        if (first) {
            first = false;
            return "";
        }

        return delimiter;
    }
}

Using the helper class is simple as this:

StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
Delimiter delimiter = new Delimiter(", ");

for (String item : list) {
    sb.append(delimiter);
    sb.append(item);
}

answered 2009-03-23T15:18:36.517

I like this solution:

String delim = " - ", string = "";

for (String item : myCollection)
    string += delim + item;

string = string.substring(delim.length());

I assume it can make use of StringBuilder too.

answered 2012-02-10T13:15:35.957

You can also unconditionally add the delimiter string, and after the loop remove the extra delimiter at the end. Then an "if list is empty then return this string" at the beginning will allow you to avoid the check at the end (as you cannot remove characters from an empty list)

So the question really is:

"Given a loop and an if, what do you think is the clearest way to have these together?"

answered 2009-03-21T09:32:42.730

if (array.length>0)          // edited in response Joachim's comment
  sb.append(array[i]);
for (int i=1; i<array.length; i++)
  sb.append(",").append(array[i]);

Based on Clearest way to comma-delimit a list (Java)?

Using this idea: Does the last element in a loop deserve a separate treatment?

answered 2009-03-22T07:31:12.747

The simplest way to comma-delimit a list?

5 Answers

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