What is the Java Streams API and how do I use the collecting method?

What is the Java Streams API and how do I use the collecting method?

The Java Streams API is a powerful tool for processing sequences of elements, such as collections. The collecting method is used to accumulate the elements of a stream into a collection, like a List or a Set. Would you like to see an example?

Yes, please provide an example of using the collecting method.

Sure! Here's a simple example: you can use Collectors.toList() to collect elements into a List. For instance:

List<String> names = Stream.of("Alice", "Bob", "Charlie")
                           .collect(Collectors.toList());

This will create a List containing "Alice", "Bob", and "Charlie".

Can I use it to collect into a Set instead?

Absolutely! You can use Collectors.toSet() to collect elements into a Set. For example:

Set<String> nameSet = Stream.of("Alice", "Bob", "Alice")
                            .collect(Collectors.toSet());

This will create a Set containing "Alice" and "Bob", with duplicates removed.