How can we dynamically allocate and grow an array

Question

I am working on a project, but I cannot use any existing java data structures (ie, ArraysList, trees, etc)

I can only use arrays. Therefore, I need to dynamically update an array with new memory.

I am reading from a text file, and I pre-allocate 100 for the arrays memory:

   String [] wordList;
   int wordCount = 0;
   int occurrence = 1;
   int arraySize = 100;
   wordList = new String[arraySize];
   while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
         // Store the content into an array
         Scanner s = new Scanner(strLine);
         while(s.hasNext()) {
           wordList[wordCount] = s.next();
           wordCount++;
         } 
   }

Now this works fine for under 100 list items. br.readline is the buffered reader going through each line of a textfile. I have it then store each word into list and then increment my index (wordCount).

However, once I have a text file with more than 100 items, I get an allocation error.

How can I dynamically update this array (and thereby sort of reinvent the wheel)?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can do something like this:

String [] wordList;
int wordCount = 0;
int occurrence = 1;
int arraySize = 100;
int arrayGrowth = 50;
wordList = new String[arraySize];
while ((strLine = br.readLine()) != null)   {
     // Store the content into an array
     Scanner s = new Scanner(strLine);
     while(s.hasNext()) {
         if (wordList.length == wordCount) {
              // expand list
              wordList = Arrays.copyOf(wordList, wordList.length + arrayGrowth);
         }
         wordList[wordCount] = s.next();
         wordCount++;
     } 
}

Using java.util.Arrays.copyOf(String[]) is basically doing the same thing as:

if (wordList.length == wordCount) {
    String[] temp = new String[wordList.length + arrayGrowth];
    System.arraycopy(wordList, 0, temp, 0, wordList.length);
    wordList = temp;
}

except it is one line of code instead of three. :)