Java: Get first item from a collection

Question

If I have a collection, such as Collection strs, how can I get the first item out? I could just call an Iterator, take its first

Answer 1

You can do a casting. For example, if exists one method with this definition, and you know that this method is returning a List:

Collection getStrings();

And after invoke it, you need the first element, you can do it like this:

List listString = (List) getStrings();
String firstElement = (listString.isEmpty() ? null : listString.get(0));