Can I iterate over an array defined within a for-loop in Java?

Question

Does Java offer a way to do something like the following without resorting to declaring the array in a separate variable?

for (String s : {"HEY", "THERE"}) {
    // ...
}

The best I can come up with is:

for (String s : new ArrayList<String>() {{ add("HEY"); add("THERE"); }}) {
    // ...
}

which isn't pretty.

Don't think the second is also correct, u will be iterating over a memory address not actual String[]., — sathish_at_madison, Apr 18 '13 at 00:39
interesting, it did. Lesson for the day, cheers.http://ideone.com/jnkExT — sathish_at_madison, Apr 18 '13 at 00:41
Yeah, I think it's pretty hard to accidentally access the memory location of an object in Java. C, on the other hand... — sdasdadas, Apr 18 '13 at 00:46

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

5

Well, the least you can do is this:

for (String s : new String[]{"HEY", "THERE"}) {
    // ...
}

Since Arrays are "iterable" in Java (although not implementing Iterable), you could iterate over an Array instead of an ArrayList, which could also be in-line initialized.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:12

Community

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answered Apr 18 '13 at 00:38

zw324

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Nitpick: arrays don't implement the `Iterable` interface. Something different is going on when using enhanced for on them. – Paul Bellora Apr 18 '13 at 00:44

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 18 '13 at 00:39

5

for (String s : Arrays.asList("HEY", "THERE")) {
    // ...
}

Not sure why you'd want to do this, but there you have it.

answered Apr 18 '13 at 00:39

Aurand

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Mostly just curiosity but I learned three things from this question: `Arrays.asList`, `new Object[]{}`, and curiosity has no "u" in it. – sdasdadas Apr 18 '13 at 00:42

Can I iterate over an array defined within a for-loop in Java?

2 Answers2