Array Slicing in Java

In Java, array slicing is a way to get a subarray of the given array. Suppose, a[] is an array. It has 8 elements indexed from a[0] to a[7].

a[] = {8, 9, 4, 6, 0, 11, 45, 21}

Now, we want to find a slice of the array index from a[3] to a[6]. Where a[3] is the startIndex and a[6] is the endIndex. Therefore, we get the following sliced array:

a[] = {6, 0, 11, 45}

In this section, we will learn how to find a slice of an array in Java.

There are the following three ways to find a slice of an array:

• By copying elements
• By using the copyOfRange() Method
• Using Java 8 Stream

Let's discuss each method in detail.

By Copying Elements

It is a native method for getting a slice of an array. In this method, first, we find the start and end index of the given array. After that, we create an empty array (sliced array) of size (endIndex - startIndex). From the given array, copy the elements (from startIndex) to the sliced array. At last, print the sliced array.

Let's implement the above approach in a Java program to get a sliced array of the given array. In this program. we will use an array of primitive types.

SliceArrayExample1.java

Output:

Slice of Array: [22, 45, 90, 67, 91, 0]

By Using the copyOfRange() Method

The copyOfRange() method belongs to the Java Arrays class. It copies the specified range of the array to the newly created array (slice array) and returns the newly created array that contains the specified range from the original array. It takes O(n) time to create slicing of an array and O(n) space to store elements, where n is the number of elements of the resulting array.

Syntax:

The method parses the three parameters:

• original: It is an array whose slice is to find.
• from: It is the start index. It must lie between 0 to the length of the given array.
• to: It is the end index.

It throws the following exceptions:

• ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: If from is less than 0 or from is greater than the length of the specified array.
• IllegalArgumentException: If the parameter from is greater than to.
• NullPointerException: If the given array is null.

SliceArrayExample2.java

Output:

Slice of Array: [56, 90, 111, 901, 251]

By Using Java 8 Stream

By using the following steps, we can find the slice of an array using the Java 8 Stream.

• First, find the startIndex and endIndex array.
• Convert the elements (that are in range) into Primitive Stream using range() method.
• Using the map() method map the specified elements from the specified array.
• By invoking the toArray() method, convert the mapped array into an array.
• Print the sliced

SliceArrayExample3.java

Output:

Slice of array for the specified range is: [100, 345, 897, 67, 123, 0]