View Category
Lists
Declaration

Define an empty list

Assign the variable "list" to a list with no elements
groovy
list = []
// if a special kind of list is required
list = new LinkedList() // java style
LinkedList list = [] // statically typed
// using 'as' operator
list = [] as java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList

Define a static list

Define the list [One, Two, Three, Four, Five]
groovy
list = ['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five']
// other variations
List<String> numbers1 = ['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five']
String[] numbers2 = ['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five']
numbers3 = new LinkedList(['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five'])
numbers4 = ['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five'] as Stack // Groovy 1.6+
Output

Join the elements of a list, separated by commas

Given the list [Apple, Banana, Carrot] produce "Apple, Banana, Carrot"
groovy
string = fruit.join(', ')
string = fruit.toString()[1..-2]

Join the elements of a list, in correct english

Create a function join that takes a List and produces a string containing an english language concatenation of the list. It should work with the following examples:
join([Apple, Banana, Carrot]) = "Apple, Banana, and Carrot"
join([One, Two]) = "One and Two"
join([Lonely]) = "Lonely"
join([]) = ""
groovy
def join(list) {
if (!list) return ''
switch(list.size()) {
case 1:
return list[0]
case 2:
return list.join(' and ')
default:
return list[0..-2].join(', ') + ', and ' + list[-1]
}
}
ArrayList.metaClass.joinEng = { ->
def closureMap = [0: { -> delegate.join(' and ')}, 1 : {-> delegate.join(' and ')}].withDefault { k -> { -> delegate[0..-2].join(', ') + ', and ' + delegate[-1] } }
if (delegate.size()) closureMap[delegate.size()-1].call()
else ""
}

assert ["a"].joinEng() == "a"
assert ["a", "b"].joinEng() == "a and b"
assert ["a", "b", "c"].joinEng() == "a, b, and c"
assert [].joinEng() == ""

Produce the combinations from two lists

Given two lists, produce the list of tuples formed by taking the combinations from the individual lists. E.g. given the letters ["a", "b", "c"] and the numbers [4, 5], produce the list: [["a", 4], ["b", 4], ["c", 4], ["a", 5], ["b", 5], ["c", 5]]
groovy
letters = ['a', 'b', 'c']
numbers = [4, 5]
combos = [letters, numbers].combinations()

From a List Produce a List of Duplicate Entries

Taking a list:
["andrew", "bob", "chris", "bob"]

Write the code to produce a list of duplicates in the list:
["bob"]
groovy
def input = ["andrew", "bob", "chris", "bob"]

def output = input.findAll{input.count(it)>1}.unique()

assert output == ["bob"]
Access

Fetch an element of a list by index

Given the list [One, Two, Three, Four, Five], fetch the third element ('Three')
groovy
list = ['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five']
result = list[2] // index starts at 0

Fetch the last element of a list

Given the list [Red, Green, Blue], access the last element ('Blue')
groovy
list = ['Red', 'Green', 'Blue']
result = list[-1]

Find the common items in two lists

Given two lists, find the common items. E.g. given beans = ['broad', 'mung', 'black', 'red', 'white'] and colors = ['black', 'red', 'blue', 'green'], what are the bean varieties that are also color names?
groovy
beans = ['broad', 'mung', 'black', 'red', 'white']
colors = ['black', 'red', 'blue', 'green']
common = beans.intersect(colors)
assert common == ['black', 'red']

Display the unique items in a list

Display the unique items in a list, e.g. given ages = [18, 16, 17, 18, 16, 19, 14, 17, 19, 18], display the unique elements, i.e. with duplicates removed.
groovy
ages = [18, 16, 17, 18, 16, 19, 14, 17, 19, 18]
println ages.unique()
ages = [18, 16, 17, 18, 16, 19, 14, 17, 19, 18]
unique = ages as Set
println unique
Modification

Remove an element from a list by index

Given the list [Apple, Banana, Carrot], remove the first element to produce the list [Banana, Carrot]
groovy
// to produce a new list
newlist = list.tail() // for 'Apple' at start
newlist = list - 'Apple' // for 'Apple' anywhere
// mutate original list
list.remove(0)

Remove the last element of a list

groovy
list = ['Apple', 'Banana', 'Carrot']
// to produce a new list
newlist = list[0,1]
// to modify original list
list.remove(2)

Rotate a list

Given a list ["apple", "orange", "grapes", "bananas"], rotate it by removing the first item and placing it on the end to yield ["orange", "grapes", "bananas", "apple"]
groovy
first = items.head()
items = items.tail() + first
items = items[1..-1] + items[0]
items = items + items.remove(0)
Manipulation

Gather together corresponding elements from multiple lists

Given several lists, gather together the first element from every list, the second element from every list, and so on for all corresponding index values in the lists. E.g. for these three lists, first = ['Bruce', 'Tommy Lee', 'Bruce'], last = ['Willis', 'Jones', 'Lee'], years = [1955, 1946, 1940] the result should produce 3 actors. The middle actor should be Tommy Lee Jones.
groovy
first = ['Bruce', 'Tommy Lee', 'Bruce']
last = ['Willis', 'Jones', 'Lee']
years = [1955, 1946, 1940]
actors = [first, last, years].transpose()
assert actors.size() == 3
assert actors[1] == ['Tommy Lee', 'Jones', 1946]

List Combinations

Given two source lists (or sets), generate a list (or set) of all the pairs derived by combining elements from the individual lists (sets). E.g. given suites = ['H', 'D', 'C', 'S'] and faces = ['2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '10', 'J', 'Q', 'K', 'A'], generate the deck of 52 cards, confirm the deck size and check it contains an expected card, say 'Ace of Hearts'.
groovy
faces = ['2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '10', 'J', 'Q', 'K', 'A']
suites = ['H', 'D', 'C', 'S']
deck = [faces, suites].combinations()
assert deck.size() == 52
assert ['A', 'H'] in deck

Perform an operation on every item of a list

Perform an operation on every item of a list, e.g.
for the list ["ox", "cat", "deer", "whale"] calculate
the list of sizes of the strings, e.g. [2, 3, 4, 5]
groovy
animals = ["ox", "cat", "deer", "whale"]
assert animals*.size() == [2, 3, 4, 5]

Split a list of things into numbers and non-numbers

Given a list that might contain e.g. a string, an integer, a float and a date,
split the list into numbers and non-numbers.
groovy
now = new Date()
things = ["hello", 25, 3.14, now]
(numbers, others) = things.split{ it instanceof Number }
assert numbers == [25, 3.14]
assert others == ["hello", now]
Testing

Test if a condition holds for all items of a list

Given a list, test if a certain logical condition (i.e. predicate) holds for all items of the list.
groovy
[2,3,4].every{it > 1}

Test if a condition holds for any items of a list

Given a list, test if a certain logical condition (i.e. predicate) holds for any items of the list.
groovy
[2,3,4].any{it > 3}