Converting 'ArrayList to 'String[]' in Java

Question

How might I convert an ArrayList object to a String[] array in Java?

Answer 1

Generics solution to covert any List to String []:

public static   String[] listToArray(List list) {
    String [] array = new String[list.size()];
    for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++)
        array[i] = list.get(i).toString();
    return array;
}

Note You must override toString() method.

class Car {
  private String name;
  public Car(String name) {
    this.name = name;
  }
  public String toString() {
    return name;
  }
}
final List carList = new ArrayList();
carList.add(new Car("BMW"))
carList.add(new Car("Mercedes"))
carList.add(new Car("Skoda"))
final String[] carArray = listToArray(carList);