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Java 9 Factory Methods

Java 9 Collection library includes static factory methods for List, Set and Map interface. These methods are useful to create small number of collection.

Suppose, if we want to create a list of 5 elements, we need to write the following code.

Java List Example

Output:

Java
JavaFX
Spring
Hibernate
JSP

In the above code, add method is called repeatedly for each list element, while in Java 9 we can do it in single line of code using factory methods.

Factory Methods for Collection

Factory methods are special type of static methods that are used to create unmodifiable instances of collections. It means we can use these methods to create list, set and map of small number of elements.

It is unmodifiable, so adding new element will throw java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException

Each interface has it's own factory methods, we are listing all the methods in the following tables.

Factory Methods of List Interface

Modifiers Methods Description
static List Of() It It returns an immutable list containing zero elements.
static List of(E e1) It It returns an immutable list containing one element.
static List of(E... elements) It It returns an immutable list containing an arbitrary number of elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2) It It returns an immutable list containing two elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3) It It returns an immutable list containing three elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4) It It returns an immutable list containing four elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5) It It returns an immutable list containing five elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6) It It returns an immutable list containing six elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7) It It returns an immutable list containing seven elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7, E e8) It It returns an immutable list containing eight elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7, E e8, E e9) It It returns an immutable list containing nine elements.
static List of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7, E e8, E e9, E e10) It It returns an immutable list containing ten elements.

Java 9 List Factory Method Example

In Java 9, we can write this code in vary simple manner with the help of List.of() factory method.

Output:

Java
JavaFX
Spring
Hibernate
JSP

Java 9 Set Interface

Java Set interface provides a Set.of() static factory method which is used to create immutable set. The set instance created by this method has the following characteristcis.

  • It is immutable
  • No null elements
  • It is serializable if all elements are serializable.
  • No duplicate elements.
  • The iteration order of set elements is unspecified and is subject to change.

Java 9 Set Interface Factory Methods

The following table contains the factory methods for Set interface.

Modifier and Type Method Description
static Set of() It It returns an immutable set containing zero elements.
static Set of(E e1) It It returns an immutable set containing one element.
static Set of(E... elements) It It returns an immutable set containing an arbitrary number of elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2) It It returns an immutable set containing two elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3) It It returns an immutable set containing three elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4) It It returns an immutable set containing four elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5) It It returns an immutable set containing five elements.
static Set It It returns an immutable set containing six elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7) It It returns an immutable set containing seven elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7, E e8) It It returns an immutable set containing eight elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7, E e8, E e9) It It returns an immutable set containing nine elements.
static Set of(E e1, E e2, E e3, E e4, E e5, E e6, E e7, E e8, E e9, E e10) It It returns an immutable set containing ten elements.

Java 9 Set Interface Factory Methods Example

Output:

Spring
JavaFX
JSP
Java
Hibernate

Java 9 Map Interface Factory Methods

In Java 9, Map includes Map.of() and Map.ofEntries() static factory methods that provide a convenient way to creae immutable maps.

Map created by these methods has the following characteristics.

  • It is immutable
  • It does not allow null keys and values
  • It is serializable if all keys and values are serializable
  • It rejects duplicate keys at creation time
  • The iteration order of mappings is unspecified and is subject to change.

Java 9 Map Interface Factory Methods

The following table contains the factory methods for Map interface.

Modifier and Type Method Description
static Map of() It returns an immutable map containing zero mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1) It returns an immutable map containing a single mapping.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2) It returns an immutable map containing two mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3) It returns an immutable map containing three mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4) It returns an immutable map containing four mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5) It returns an immutable map containing five mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6) It returns an immutable map containing six mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7) It returns an immutable map containing seven mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7, K k8, V v8) It returns an immutable map containing eight mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7, K k8, V v8, K k9, V v9) It returns an immutable map containing nine mappings.
static Map of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7, K k8, V v8, K k9, V v9, K k10, V v10) It returns an immutable map containing ten mappings.
static Map ofEntries(Map.Entry... entries) It returns an immutable map containing keys and values extracted from the given entries.

Java 9 Map Interface Factory Methods Example

Output:

102 Hibernate
103 Spring MVC
101 JavaFX

Java 9 Map Interface ofEntries() Method Example

In Java 9, apart from static Map.of() methods, Map interface includes one more static method Map.ofEntries(). This method is used to create a map of Map.Entry instances.

In the following example, we are creating map instance with the help of multiple map.entry instances.

Output:

102 Spring
101 Java

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