Maximum length of String[]

Question

I have a long String and I want to parse it using array of strings like this:

String data = ... very long String delimited by spaces...
String[] parse = data.split(" ");

But I get the following error:

java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 4617

Is it possible, that maximum length of String array is 4617 ?

No it isn't. Not sure, possibly an exception from the regex in `String.split()`? We might be able to help you more with the full stack trace of that exception. One line doesn't tell us much. — markspace, Oct 30 '14 at 06:51
Why don't you add a couple of more words delimited by spaces and call `parse.length()`?. — TheLostMind, Oct 30 '14 at 06:52
What's the full stacktrace? You should get a line number where the exception occurs. It's not occurring in the code you showed. — Kayaman, Oct 30 '14 at 06:53
i try to reproduce it. i have a string with 5000+ words and the split works and a can read the array. your problem must be on an other place. — Manu Zi, Oct 30 '14 at 06:59
Omg, I've found trivial error in my code, but thanks for your answers! — gaffcz, Oct 30 '14 at 06:59
@gaffcz - You have chosen the wrong answer. The correct answer is *as much as your JVM allows*. — TheLostMind, Oct 30 '14 at 07:11

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 06 '14 at 03:44

4

The maximum length of an string array in Java is Integer.MAX_VALUE - 5. (Checked with my 64-bit OS with this initialization: String[] myStringArray = new String[Integer.MAX_VALUE-5];. Integer.MAX_VALUE-4 or bigger numbers gives me java.lang.OutOfMemoryError error. The limit can be different for you, since it is machine and OS dependent).

Even if you go beyond that, you will see java.lang.OutOfMemoryError, not java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.

The problem is definitely with other part of your code.

edited Nov 06 '14 at 03:44

nhahtdh

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answered Oct 30 '14 at 06:57

Tarek

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ya nice answer I feel something is wrong with the op code. – Kick Buttowski Oct 30 '14 at 06:58
You're right, I've found trivial error in my code, omg :-( thank you – gaffcz Oct 30 '14 at 06:59
@gaffcz can you share with your error with us plz? – Kick Buttowski Oct 30 '14 at 06:59
Where is it specified that its `Integer,MAX_VALUE - 5`? – TheLostMind Oct 30 '14 at 07:00
@TheLostMind look at here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3038392/do-java-arrays-have-a-maximum-size – Kick Buttowski Oct 30 '14 at 07:05
1

@KickButtowski - That answer is wrong.. I am getting OME for `Object[] o = new Object[Integer.MAX_VALUE-80];` . Don't accept whatever you see here as right.. Think logically. The answer also depends on the behaviour of GC, heap space allocated etc. – TheLostMind Oct 30 '14 at 07:09
@TheLostMind what you mean? – Kick Buttowski Oct 30 '14 at 07:10
@KickButtowski - look at the comment to the question. – TheLostMind Oct 30 '14 at 07:11
@TheLostMind The answer depends on the JVM, but in your case it's probably just the fact that you do not have enough memory. – CL. Oct 30 '14 at 10:41
@CL. -Please look at my comment *for* the question. – TheLostMind Oct 30 '14 at 11:29

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 30 '14 at 07:04

1

use enchance for loop to iterate over parse..Somewhere else in your code you had used wrong index for parse

for(String s:parse){
 System.out.println(s);
}

answered Oct 30 '14 at 07:04

AsSiDe

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 30 '14 at 06:59

0

No.. There is no max length for the size of an Array. Although you might run into an OutOfMemoryError.

public static void main(String[] args) {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("");
    for(int i=0;i<10000000000l;i++){
        sb.append(i).append(" ");
    }
    System.out.println(sb.toString().split("\\s").length);
}

The above code might give OutOfMemoryError on some machines (it did on mine. tried it with jdk 6)

 public static void main(String[] args) {
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder("");
    for(int i=0;i<10000;i++){
        sb.append(i).append(" ");
    }
    System.out.println(sb.toString().split("\\s").length);
}

The above code works fine and prints 1000

answered Oct 30 '14 at 06:59

TheLostMind

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The size of an array can't exceed `Integer.MAX_VALUE`, since the language specifies the size of an array as `int` type. The actual limit can be lower, though. – nhahtdh Oct 30 '14 at 08:04
@nhahtdh - Where have they mentioned it? – TheLostMind Oct 30 '14 at 08:34
[JLS 8.0 - Section 15.10.1](http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/jls-15.html#jls-15.10.1) `Each dimension expression undergoes unary numeric promotion (§5.6.1). The promoted type must be int, or a compile-time error occurs.` The length of an array can only be `int` type. – nhahtdh Oct 30 '14 at 08:44

Maximum length of String[]

3 Answers3