Java ArrayList contains() Method example

ArrayList contains() method is used for checking the specified element existence in the given list.

public boolean contains(Object element)

It returns true if the specified element is found in the list else it gives false.

Example

In this example we have two array lists (ArrayList<String> and ArrayList<Integer>) and we are checking the existence of few elements in both the lists.

package beginnersbook.com;
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class ContainsExample {
   public static void main(String[] args) {

      ArrayList<String> al = new ArrayList<String>();
      al.add("pen");
      al.add("pencil");
      al.add("ink");
      al.add("notebook");

      System.out.println("ArrayList contains the string 'ink pen': "
                                           +al.contains("ink pen"));
      System.out.println("ArrayList contains the string 'pen': "
                                             +al.contains("pen"));
      System.out.println("ArrayList contains the string 'pencil': "
                                          +al.contains("pencil"));
      System.out.println("ArrayList contains the string 'book': "
                                           +al.contains("book"));

      ArrayList<Integer> al2 = new ArrayList<Integer>();
      al2.add(1);
      al2.add(99);
      al2.add(56);
      al2.add(13);
      al2.add(44);
      al2.add(6);

      System.out.println("'1' is present in arraylist: "+al2.contains(1));
      System.out.println("'55' is present in arraylist: "+al2.contains(55));
      System.out.println("'44' is there in arraylist: "+al2.contains(44));
      System.out.println("'7' is there in arraylist: "+al2.contains(7));
   }
}

Output:

ArrayList contains the string 'ink pen': false
ArrayList contains the string 'pen': true
ArrayList contains the string 'pencil': true
ArrayList contains the string 'book': false
'1' is present in arraylist: true
'55' is present in arraylist: false
'44' is there in arraylist: true
'7' is there in arraylist: false

Reference:

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/ArrayList.html#contains(java.lang.Object)