generic code

I have these 2 methods working independently, basically doing the exact same thing to different data structures. Can you suggest a way to create a generic method instead of using 2?

Code:

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public String[] uniqueArguments(String[] arguments) {
  Set<String> noDups = new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList(arguments));
        return noDups.toArray(new String[noDups.size()]);
}

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Code:

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public static ArrayList<String> uniqueArguments(List<String> u) {
  HashSet<String> mySet = new HashSet<String>(u);
  return new ArrayList<String>(mySet);
}

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err... nope, cant do that

Looking at the way you workout it's not possible. One reason I've seen is that the difference between those interfaces.

Arrays don't play well generics.
The best you can do is

Code:

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        public static <T> List<T> uniqueList(Collection<T> collection) {
                Set<T> mySet = new HashSet<T>(collection);
                return new ArrayList<T>(mySet);
        }

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But it's not as bad as you think. If you have an array you can still use the method after calling the Arrays.asList method on it e.g

Code:

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String[] stringsArray = new String[] { "f", "g", "f" };
System.out.println(uniqueList(Arrays.asList(stringsArray)));

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by r035198x

But it's not as bad as you think. If you have an array you can still use the method after calling the Arrays.asList method on it

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Interesting point.