N
The Daily Insight

Can we remove elements from ArrayList while iterating

Author

Sophia Dalton

Updated on April 03, 2026

ArrayList provides the remove() methods, like remove (int index) and remove (Object element), you cannot use them to remove items while iterating over ArrayList in Java because they will throw ConcurrentModificationException if called during iteration.

How do you remove an element from a list while iterating?

We can delete multiple elements from a list while iterating, but we need to make sure that we are not invalidating the iterator. So either we need to create a copy of the list for iteration and then delete elements from the original list, or we can use the list comprehension or filter() function to do the same.

Can we remove elements using iterator?

An element can be removed from a Collection using the Iterator method remove(). This method removes the current element in the Collection. If the remove() method is not preceded by the next() method, then the exception IllegalStateException is thrown.

Can we remove element from ArrayList while iterating C#?

You can’t use . Remove(element) inside a foreach (var element in X) (because it results in Collection was modified; enumeration operation may not execute.

Can we modify ArrayList while iterating?

Replace element in arraylist while iterating Do not use iterator if you plan to modify the arraylist during iteration. Use standard for loop, and keep track of index position to check the current element. Then use this index to set the new element.

How do you remove one element from an ArrayList in Java?

In general an object can be removed in two ways from an ArrayList (or generally any List ), by index ( remove(int) ) and by object ( remove(Object) ). In this particular scenario: Add an equals(Object) method to your ArrayTest class. That will allow ArrayList. remove(Object) to identify the correct object.

How do you remove an element from an ArrayList?

  1. Using ArrayList.remove() Method. By index. By element.
  2. Using Iterator.remove() Method.
  3. Using ArrayList.removeIf() Method.

What is difference between Iterator and ListIterator?

The basic difference between Iterator and ListIterator is that both being cursor, Iterator can traverse elements in a collection only in forward direction. On the other hand, the ListIterator can traverse in both forward and backward directions. … You can retrieve an index of an element using Iterator.

Can we modify collection while iterating?

It is not generally permissible for one thread to modify a Collection while another thread is iterating over it. … Actually, the right way to handle such scenario is to use Iterator to remove the element from the underlying Collection while iterating over it.

Can we add element to ArrayList while iterating?

ArrayList listIterator() – Add/Remove ListIterator supports to add and remove elements in the list while we are iterating over it.

Article first time published on

Why deleting elements during an ArrayList traversal requires a special technique?

Deleting elements during a traversal of an ArrayList requires using special techniques to avoid skipping elements, since remove moves all the elements down.

How can we remove an object from ArrayList * Remove using iterator remove () method and using iterator delete () method?

There are two ways to remove objects from ArrayList in Java, first, by using the remove() method, and second by using Iterator. ArrayList provides overloaded remove() method, one accepts the index of the object to be removed i.e. remove(int index), and the other accept objects to be removed, i.e. remove(Object obj).

Can I remove an element while enumerating through a properties object?

The main difference between Iterator and Enumeration is removal of the element while traversing the collection. Iterator can remove the element during traversal of collection as it has remove() method. Enumeration does not have remove() method.

How do you remove multiple elements from an ArrayList in Java?

  1. Remove multiple objects using List. removeAll method. If both are collection objects and we want to remove all element from another collection then removeAll can be used. …
  2. Remove multiple objects using List. removeIf (Java 8) …
  3. Remove multiple objects using Iterator (Java 7) Remove elements using Iterator.

How do you remove the last element of an ArrayList?

We can use the remove() method of ArrayList container in Java to remove the last element. ArrayList provides two overloaded remove() method: remove(int index) : Accept index of the object to be removed. We can pass the last elements index to the remove() method to delete the last element.

What is the time complexity of ArrayList remove index method?

  1. The “advertised” complexity of O(N) for the average and worst cases.
  2. In the best case, the complexity is actually O(1) . Really! This happens when you remove the last element of the list; i.e. index == list. size() – 1 .

How do you remove an element from a linked list in Java?

Type 1: remove() Method It is used to remove an element from a linked list. The element is removed from the beginning or head of the linked list. Parameters: This function does not take any parameter. Return Value: This method returns the head of the list or the element present at the head of the list.

What does .remove do in Java?

ArrayList. remove(int index) method removes the element at the specified position in this list. Shifts any subsequent elements to the left (subtracts one from their indices).

Can we modify collection while iterating C#?

To remove items from a collection while iterating over it use a for loop from the end to the start of it. It’s even easier just to use foreach (var gem in gems. ToList()) as suggested in the very first comment. You would just have needed to add .

Are iterators faster than for loops?

Iterator and for-each loop are faster than simple for loop for collections with no random access, while in collections which allows random access there is no performance change with for-each loop/for loop/iterator.

When should I use iterators?

You might want to use an iterator if you are going to add/remove items to the vector while you are iterating over it. If you were using indices you would have to shuffle items up/down in the array to handle the insertions and deletions.

Is ListIterator Fail-Safe?

Iterator on ArrayList, HashMap classes are some examples of fail-fast Iterator. Fail-Safe iterators don’t throw any exceptions if a collection is structurally modified while iterating over it. … Iterator on CopyOnWriteArrayList, ConcurrentHashMap classes are examples of fail-safe Iterator.

When would you choose to use LinkedList over ArrayList in an application?

LinkedList should be used where modifications to a collection are frequent like addition/deletion operations. LinkedList is much faster as compare to ArrayList in such cases. In case of read-only collections or collections which are rarely modified, ArrayList is suitable.

How does ArrayList increase in size?

The ArrayList size increases dynamically because whenever the ArrayList class requires to resize then it will create a new array of bigger size and copies all the elements from the old array to the new array. And now it is using the new array’s reference for its internal usage.

Can we add in list while iterating?

3 Answers. You can’t modify a Collection while iterating over it using an Iterator , except for Iterator. remove() . This will work except when the list starts iteration empty, in which case there will be no previous element.

How do you remove an element from an array in Java?

To remove an element from an array, we first convert the array to an ArrayList and then use the ‘remove’ method of ArrayList to remove the element at a particular index. Once removed, we convert the ArrayList back to the array.

Can we modify a list while iterating Java?

remove` is the only safe way to modify a collection during iteration; the behavior is unspecified if the underlying collection is modified in any other way while the iteration is in progress.

What happens when you add an element that exceeds the ArrayList's capacity?

Count is the number of elements that are actually in the ArrayList. Capacity is always greater than or equal to Count. If Count exceeds Capacity while adding elements, the capacity is automatically increased by reallocating the internal array before copying the old elements and adding the new elements.

Will this method correctly traverse an ArrayList and remove all multiples of 3?

Will this method correctly traverse an ArrayList and remove all multiples of 3? Yes, this method is written correctly, and will remove all multiples of 3 in an ArrayList.

Why does iterator remove Do not throw ConcurrentModificationException?

ConcurrentModificationException is not thrown by Iterator. remove() because that is the permitted way to modify an collection while iterating. This is what the javadoc for Iterator says: Removes from the underlying collection the last element returned by this iterator (optional operation).

Can we remove elements from HashMap while iterating?

You cannot remove an entry while looping over Map but you can remove a key or value while iterating over it. Since Iterator of HashMap is fail-fast it will throw ConcurrentModificationException if you try to remove entry using Map.