Return types array/list/stream [was: API question for point lambdafication]

[Brian Goetz]

> My preference would be as folows:
> - only use array as a return type to match other methods in the same type
> - prefer List to Set or Collection
> - prefer Stream to Iterator and Enumeration (and probably Iterable)
> - prefer List to Stream for small/bounded data sets
>
> Thus, on the last point, I would argue that String.splitAsStream() is
> wrong, and should be String.splitToList().  (As a side note, with my
> general "arrays are bad" hat on, returning an array here was another
> bad choice)
>
> Users wanting a stream can easily get it from the list. The reverse is
> not so true, and almost certainly more wasteful.

This ignores a significant consideration -- List requires buffering all 
the matches before any work can be done, whereas Stream is lazy.  What 
if the List is potentially huge (or infinite)?  What if you're only 
going to look at the first few?  What if producing elements is 
expensive?  What if you have an expensive operation to perform on the 
results, and want to do so in parallel?  In all of these cases, 
preferring List over Stream gives up significant performance 
opportunities.  And, constructing lists is likely to be more expensive 
than constructing streams.

The argument that we should "prefer List to Stream because you can 
always get a stream from a list" is too simplistic.

Regex parsing is a good example of where you might want a stream rather 
than a list, as you might well not consume all the matches.