How can I create an array in Kotlin like in Java by just providing a size?

Kevin Mathew picture Kevin Mathew · Feb 7, 2016 · Viewed 54.3k times · Source

How can I create a Array like we do in java?

int A[] = new int[N];

How can I do this in Kotlin?

Answer

hotkey picture hotkey · Feb 7, 2016

According to the reference, arrays are created in the following way:

  • For Java's primitive types there are distinct types IntArray, DoubleArray etc. which store unboxed values.

    They are created with the corresponding constructors and factory functions:

    val arrayOfZeros = IntArray(size) //equivalent in Java: new int[size]
    val numbersFromOne = IntArray(size) { it + 1 }
    val myInts = intArrayOf(1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21)
    

    The first one is simillar to that in Java, it just creates a primitive array filled with the default value, e.g. zero for Int, false for Boolean.

  • Non primitive-arrays are represented by Array<T> class, where T is the items type.

    T can still be one of types primitive in Java (Int, Boolean,...), but the values inside will be boxed equivalently to Java's Integer, Double and so on.

    Also, T can be both nullable and non-null like String and String?.

    These are created in a similar way:

    val nulls = arrayOfNulls<String>(size) //equivalent in Java: new String[size]
    val strings = Array(size) { "n = $it" } 
    val myStrings = arrayOf("foo", "bar", "baz")
    
    val boxedInts = arrayOfNulls<Int>(size) //equivalent in Java: new Integer[size]
    val boxedZeros = Array(size) { 0 }