stream-tolist.json

{
  "id": 40,
  "slug": "stream-tolist",
  "title": "Stream.toList()",
  "category": "streams",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "jdkVersion": "16",
  "oldLabel": "Java 8",
  "modernLabel": "Java 16+",
  "oldApproach": "Collectors.toList()",
  "modernApproach": ".toList()",
  "oldCode": "List<String> result = stream\n    .filter(s -> s.length() > 3)\n    .collect(Collectors.toList());",
  "modernCode": "List<String> result = stream\n    .filter(s -> s.length() > 3)\n    .toList();",
  "summary": "Terminal toList() replaces the verbose collect(Collectors.toList()).",
  "explanation": "Stream.toList() returns an unmodifiable list. It's equivalent to .collect(Collectors.toUnmodifiableList()) but much shorter. Note: the result is immutable, unlike Collectors.toList().",
  "whyModernWins": [
    {
      "icon": "📏",
      "title": "7 chars vs 24",
      "desc": ".toList() replaces .collect(Collectors.toList())."
    },
    {
      "icon": "🔒",
      "title": "Immutable",
      "desc": "The result list cannot be modified."
    },
    {
      "icon": "📖",
      "title": "Fluent",
      "desc": "Reads naturally at the end of a pipeline."
    }
  ],
  "support": {
    "state": "available",
    "description": "Widely available since JDK 16 (March 2021)"
  },
  "prev": "streams/collectors-flatmapping",
  "next": "streams/stream-mapmulti",
  "related": [
    "collections/unmodifiable-collectors",
    "streams/stream-gatherers",
    "streams/stream-iterate-predicate"
  ],
  "docs": [
    {
      "title": "Stream.toList()",
      "href": "https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/25/docs/api/java.base/java/util/stream/Stream.html#toList()"
    }
  ]
}