java arraylist max length

The ArrayList class in Java is a resizable array that implements the List interface. It does not have a fixed maximum length, and it automatically increases its size as needed when you add elements to it.

Here is an example of how to create an ArrayList and add elements to it:

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class ArrayListExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<>();
        words.add("hello");
        words.add("world");
        words.add("goodbye");
        words.add("moon");
    }
}

This code creates an ArrayList of strings called words and adds the elements "hello", "world", "goodbye", and "moon" to the list using the add() method.

The ArrayList class automatically increases its capacity as needed to accommodate the added elements. It does this by creating a new, larger array and copying the elements of the original array to the new array. This process is called resizing.

The initial capacity of an ArrayList is 10, but you can specify a different initial capacity when you create the list using the ArrayList(int initialCapacity) constructor. For example:

ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<>(100);

This code creates an ArrayList with an initial capacity of 100 elements.

Note that the ArrayList class does not have a fixed maximum length, and it can continue to increase its capacity as needed as you add more elements to it. However, the maximum capacity of an ArrayList is limited by the maximum size of an array in Java, which is Integer.MAX_VALUE.

You can use the ensureCapacity() method to increase the capacity of an ArrayList ahead of time, to avoid the overhead of resizing the array as you add more elements to the list. However, keep in mind that increasing the capacity of an ArrayList can use a lot of memory, so you should only use this method as little as possible.