Task for an aspiring JDK contributor

[Andreas Røsdal]

`new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(array))`  is quite complex syntax to convert
an array to an java.util.ArrayList,
so a suggestion could be to add a new method to Arrays to convert an array
to a normal java.util.ArrayList which is modifiable.

Are there any low-hanging-fruit issues in core-libs-dev in bugs.openjdk.org
that you are aware of that
you would like me to help you implement?

Thanks for considering my request.

Regards,
Andreas




On Fri, Nov 18, 2022 at 5:51 PM Daniel Fuchs <daniel.fuchs at oracle.com>
wrote:

> Hi Andreas,
>
> First of all, congratulations for seeking advice before working on
> a PR. This is exactly how first contributions should start. Thank
> you for that!
>
> Given the area in which you intended to work however, `core-libs-dev`
> might have been a better list than `discuss` to start from.
>
> With regard to the meat of the issue however, and as noted by Ethan,
> Arrays.asList() behaves as intended, and changing that would be a
> major incompatible change, as many users of the API expect the list
> returned by Arrays.asList to be immutable (and depend on it).
> It is not possible nor desirable to change that.
>
> As for your observation, I believe that:
>
>    `new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(array))`
>
> will get you what you want.
>
> best regards,
>
> -- daniel
>
> On 18/11/2022 16:29, Andreas Røsdal wrote:
> > Yes, the exception comes when adding objects to the returned list. So I
> > would like a convenient way to use Arrays to convert an array to a
> > normal modifiable java.util.ArrayList, instead of this AbstractList.
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 18, 2022 at 5:23 PM Ethan McCue <ethan at mccue.dev
> > <mailto:ethan at mccue.dev>> wrote:
> >
> >     What situation were you encountering the exception? Was it when
> >     trying to add to the returned list?
> >
> >     If so, that's expected. Arrays.asList only wraps an underlying
> >     array, it can't grow it. By that measure List.of() is even more
> >     unintuitive because you can't set anything.
> >
> >     On Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 11:06 AM Andreas Røsdal
> >     <andreas.rosdal at gmail.com <mailto:andreas.rosdal at gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> >         Hello!
> >
> >         I am an aspiring JDK contributor, having used Java in my work as
> >         a developer.
> >
> >         I was recently surprised by an Exception thrown when using the
> >         java.util.Arrays.asList() method
> >         so I would like to propose some improvements to this API. In
> >         particular:
> >         - When using java.util.Arrays.asList() then AbstractList is
> >         throwing UnsupportedOperationException which is not
> >         user-friendly or intuitive.
> >         - java.util.Arrays.asList() returning a private class called
> >         ArrayList, which is not the usual java.util.ArrayList, so it's
> >         not user-friendly or intuitive.
> >
> >         Since this would be my first contribution to the JDK, and the
> >         goal is to complete the contribution with accepted pull request
> >         and get the Arrays API improved, what would the first step to
> >         making this first improvement to the JDK be?
> >
> >         I would also like to share a link to an open source project I've
> >         been working on:
> >         https://github.com/fciv-net/fciv-net
> >         <https://github.com/fciv-net/fciv-net>
> >
> >         Thank you!
> >
> >         Regards,
> >         Andreas R.
> >
>
>
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