Java convert List String to a String

Question

JavaScript has Array.join()

js>["Bill","Bob","Steve"].join(" and ")
Bill and Bob and Steve

Does Java have anything like this? I know I can cobble something up myself with StringBuilder:

static public String join(List<String> list, String conjunction)
{
   StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
   boolean first = true;
   for (String item : list)
   {
      if (first)
         first = false;
      else
         sb.append(conjunction);
      sb.append(item);
   }
   return sb.toString();
}

..but there's no point in doing this if something like it is already part of the JDK.

Answer 1

With Java 8 you can do this without any third party library.

If you want to join a Collection of Strings you can use the new String.join() method:

List<String> list = Arrays.asList("foo", "bar", "baz");
String joined = String.join(" and ", list); // "foo and bar and baz"

If you have a Collection with another type than String you can use the Stream API with the joining Collector:

List<Person> list = Arrays.asList(
  new Person("John", "Smith"),
  new Person("Anna", "Martinez"),
  new Person("Paul", "Watson ")
);

String joinedFirstNames = list.stream()
  .map(Person::getFirstName)
  .collect(Collectors.joining(", ")); // "John, Anna, Paul"

The StringJoiner class may also be useful.

Answer 2

With a java 8 collector, this can be done with the following code:

Arrays.asList("Bill", "Bob", "Steve").stream().collect(Collectors.joining(" and "));

Also, the simplest solution in java 8:

String.join(" and ", "Bill", "Bob", "Steve");

or

String.join(" and ", Arrays.asList("Bill", "Bob", "Steve"));