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Java – Check if Array contains a certain value?

Java examples to check if an Array (String or Primitive type) contains a certain values, updated with Java 8 stream APIs.

1. String Arrays

1.1 Check if a String Array contains a certain value “A”.

StringArrayExample1.java

package com.mkyong.core;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class StringArrayExample1 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String[] alphabet = new String[]{"A", "B", "C"};

        // Convert String Array to List
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList(alphabet);
        
        if(list.contains("A")){
            System.out.println("Hello A");
        }

    }

}

Output


Hello A

In Java 8, you can do this :


	// Convert to stream and test it
	boolean result = Arrays.stream(alphabet).anyMatch("A"::equals);
	if (result) {
		System.out.println("Hello A");
	}

1.2 Example to check if a String Array contains multiple values :

StringArrayExample2.java

package com.mkyong.core;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class StringArrayExample2 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String[] alphabet = new String[]{"A", "C"};

        // Convert String Array to List
        List<String> list = Arrays.asList(alphabet);

        // A or B
        if (list.contains("A") || list.contains("B")) {
            System.out.println("Hello A or B");
        }

        // A and B
        if (list.containsAll(Arrays.asList("A", "B"))) {
            System.out.println("Hello A and B");
        }

        // A and C
        if (list.containsAll(Arrays.asList("A", "C"))) {
            System.out.println("Hello A and C");
        }

    }

}

Output


Hello A or B
Hello A and C

2. Primitive Arrays

2.1 For primitive array like int[], you need to loop it and test the condition manually :

PrimitiveArrayExample1.java

package com.mkyong.core;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class PrimitiveArrayExample1 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int[] number = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};

        if(contains(number, 2)){
            System.out.println("Hello 2");
        }

    }

    public static boolean contains(final int[] array, final int v) {

        boolean result = false;

        for(int i : array){
            if(i == v){
                result = true;
                break;
            }
        }

        return result;
    }

}

Output


Hello 2

2.2 With Java 8, coding is much simpler ~

ArrayExample1.java

package com.mkyong.core;

import java.util.stream.IntStream;
import java.util.stream.LongStream;

public class TestDate {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int[] number = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};

        //Java 8
        boolean result = IntStream.of(number).anyMatch(x -> x == 4);

        if (result) {
            System.out.println("Hello 4");
        } else {
            System.out.println("Where is number 4?");
        }

        long[] lNumber = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};

        boolean result2 = LongStream.of(lNumber).anyMatch(x -> x == 10);

        if (result2) {
            System.out.println("Hello 10");
        } else {
            System.out.println("Where is number 10?");
        }

    }

}

Output


Hello 4
Hello 10
Note
To check if a primitive array contains multiple values, convert the array into a List and compare it like example 1.2 above.

References

  1. IntStream JavaDoc
  2. Arrays.asList JavaDoc

About Author

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Founder of Mkyong.com, love Java and open source stuff. Follow him on Twitter. If you like my tutorials, consider make a donation to these charities.

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Adarshpal Brar
6 years ago

Hi,

The link of the topic does not match the title.

Regards,
Adarsh

Alex Block
6 years ago

for 1.1 you could do
Arrays.stream(alphabet).filter(“A”::equals).findAny().ifPresent(s->System.out.println(“Hello A”));

which removes the need for the if below.

cheroliv
1 year ago

what about ?

static boolean contains(Integer[] ints, int k) {
    return (java.util.Arrays.binarySearch(ints, k)) >= 0;
}
Celia
4 years ago

The contains(array,value) worked like a dream for me to identify duplicate values as my random integers were being input into an array such that I was able to repeat the iteration without adding to the array limit.
Much appreciated.