Group a list of objects by an attribute

Question

I need to group a list of objects (Student) using an attribute (Location) of the particular object. The code is like below:

public class Grouping {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        List<Student> studlist = new ArrayList<Student>();
        studlist.add(new Student("1726", "John", "New York"));
        studlist.add(new Student("4321", "Max", "California"));
        studlist.add(new Student("2234", "Andrew", "Los Angeles"));
        studlist.add(new Student("5223", "Michael", "New York"));
        studlist.add(new Student("7765", "Sam", "California"));
        studlist.add(new Student("3442", "Mark", "New York"));

    }
}

class Student {
    String stud_id;
    String stud_name;
    String stud_location;

    Student(String sid, String sname, String slocation) {
        this.stud_id = sid;
        this.stud_name = sname;
        this.stud_location = slocation;
    }
}

Please suggest me a clean way to do it.

Sachsse

A hashmap with location as the key and the students list as value. – Caddish

Would sorting by location solve your problem, or is there something else? – Lafleur

Try using Comparator and sort by location. – Nuncio

@Lafleur Yes, But going further if I need get information like, Student count by Location better if I could get it grouped – Sachsse

@Caddish Please can you give me a clue by code, Im not so familiar with Hashmaps – Sachsse

@DilukshanMahendra check one of the answers below. – Caddish

I think the answer here https://mcmap.net/q/151491/-grouping-elements-of-a-list-into-sublists-maybe-by-using-guava also applies to this problem. – Denunciation

Answer 1

This will add the students object to the HashMap with locationID as key.

HashMap<Integer, List<Student>> hashMap = new HashMap<Integer, List<Student>>();

Iterate over this code and add students to the HashMap:

if (!hashMap.containsKey(locationId)) {
    List<Student> list = new ArrayList<Student>();
    list.add(student);

    hashMap.put(locationId, list);
} else {
    hashMap.get(locationId).add(student);
}

If you want all the student with particular location details then you can use this:

hashMap.get(locationId);

which will get you all the students with the same the location ID.

Refugee

You declared a List of Location objects and in the next line you add a Student object to the previous list which should throw an error. – Drislane

hashMap.get() returns null when hashMap.contanisKey() return false. You could save the call to containsKey() method if you call first hashMap.get(), store result in a local var, and check if this local var is null – Wainscot

Answer 2

In Java 8:

Map<String, List<Student>> studlistGrouped =
    studlist.stream().collect(Collectors.groupingBy(w -> w.stud_location));

Owensby

That is because in Student class stud_location is specified as Friendly. Only Student class and any class that is defined in the same package of Student can access stud_location. If you put public String stud_location; instead of String stud_location;, this should work. Or you can define a getter function. More info in cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/spr96/cs333/java/tutorial/java/… – Stratigraphy

Answer 3

Map<String, List<Student>> map = new HashMap<String, List<Student>>();

for (Student student : studlist) {
    String key  = student.stud_location;
    if(map.containsKey(key)){
        List<Student> list = map.get(key);
        list.add(student);

    }else{
        List<Student> list = new ArrayList<Student>();
        list.add(student);
        map.put(key, list);
    }

}

Stevenstevena

Answer 4

Java 8 groupingBy Collector

Probably it's late but I like to share an improved idea to this problem. This is basically the same of @Vitalii Fedorenko's answer but more handly to play around.

You can just use the Collectors.groupingBy() by passing the grouping logic as function parameter and you will get the splitted list with the key parameter mapping. Note that using Optional is used to avoid the unwanted NPE when the provided list is null

public static <E, K> Map<K, List<E>> groupBy(List<E> list, Function<E, K> keyFunction) {
    return Optional.ofNullable(list)
            .orElseGet(ArrayList::new)
            .stream()
            .collect(Collectors.groupingBy(keyFunction));
}

Now you can groupBy anything with this. For the use case here in the question

Map<String, List<Student>> map = groupBy(studlist, Student::getLocation);

Maybe you would like to look into this also Guide to Java 8 groupingBy Collector

Salpingitis

Answer 5

Using Java 8

import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.stream.Collectors;
import java.util.stream.Stream;

class Student {

    private String stud_id;
    private String stud_name;
    private String stud_location;

    public String getStud_id() {
        return stud_id;
    }

    public String getStud_name() {
        return stud_name;
    }

    public String getStud_location() {
        return stud_location;
    }



    Student(String sid, String sname, String slocation) {

        this.stud_id = sid;
        this.stud_name = sname;
        this.stud_location = slocation;

    }
}

class Temp
{
    public static void main(String args[])
    {

        Stream<Student> studs = 
        Stream.of(new Student("1726", "John", "New York"),
                new Student("4321", "Max", "California"),
                new Student("2234", "Max", "Los Angeles"),
                new Student("7765", "Sam", "California"));
        Map<String, Map<Object, List<Student>>> map= studs.collect(Collectors.groupingBy(Student::getStud_name,Collectors.groupingBy(Student::getStud_location)));
                System.out.println(map);//print by name and then location
    }

}

The result will be:

{
    Max={
        Los Angeles=[Student@214c265e], 
        California=[Student@448139f0]
    }, 
    John={
        New York=[Student@7cca494b]
    }, 
    Sam={
        California=[Student@7ba4f24f]
    }
}

Coastland

This answer can be improved by sticking to the same example as the question. Also the result does not match with the desired output requested in the question. – Infante

nice explanation. – Successful

Don't write Java code as C developer :D – Burson

Answer 6

You can use the following:

Map<String, List<Student>> groupedStudents = new HashMap<String, List<Student>>();
for (Student student: studlist) {
    String key = student.stud_location;
    if (groupedStudents.get(key) == null) {
        groupedStudents.put(key, new ArrayList<Student>());
    }
    groupedStudents.get(key).add(student);
}

//print

Set<String> groupedStudentsKeySet = groupedCustomer.keySet();
for (String location: groupedStudentsKeySet) {
   List<Student> stdnts = groupedStudents.get(location);
   for (Student student : stdnts) {
        System.out.println("ID : "+student.stud_id+"\t"+"Name : "+student.stud_name+"\t"+"Location : "+student.stud_location);
    }
}

Echopraxia

Answer 7

Implement SQL GROUP BY Feature in Java using Comparator, comparator will compare your column data, and sort it. Basically if you keep sorted data that looks as grouped data, for example if you have same repeated column data then sort mechanism sort them keeping same data one side and then look for other data which is dissimilar data. This indirectly viewed as GROUPING of same data.

public class GroupByFeatureInJava {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ProductBean p1 = new ProductBean("P1", 20, new Date());
        ProductBean p2 = new ProductBean("P1", 30, new Date());
        ProductBean p3 = new ProductBean("P2", 20, new Date());
        ProductBean p4 = new ProductBean("P1", 20, new Date());
        ProductBean p5 = new ProductBean("P3", 60, new Date());
        ProductBean p6 = new ProductBean("P1", 20, new Date());

        List<ProductBean> list = new ArrayList<ProductBean>();
        list.add(p1);
        list.add(p2);
        list.add(p3);
        list.add(p4);
        list.add(p5);
        list.add(p6);

        for (Iterator iterator = list.iterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
            ProductBean bean = (ProductBean) iterator.next();
            System.out.println(bean);
        }
        System.out.println("******** AFTER GROUP BY PRODUCT_ID ******");
        Collections.sort(list, new ProductBean().new CompareByProductID());
        for (Iterator iterator = list.iterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
            ProductBean bean = (ProductBean) iterator.next();
            System.out.println(bean);
        }

        System.out.println("******** AFTER GROUP BY PRICE ******");
        Collections.sort(list, new ProductBean().new CompareByProductPrice());
        for (Iterator iterator = list.iterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
            ProductBean bean = (ProductBean) iterator.next();
            System.out.println(bean);
        }
    }
}

class ProductBean {
    String productId;
    int price;
    Date date;

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "ProductBean [" + productId + " " + price + " " + date + "]";
    }
    ProductBean() {
    }
    ProductBean(String productId, int price, Date date) {
        this.productId = productId;
        this.price = price;
        this.date = date;
    }
    class CompareByProductID implements Comparator<ProductBean> {
        public int compare(ProductBean p1, ProductBean p2) {
            if (p1.productId.compareTo(p2.productId) > 0) {
                return 1;
            }
            if (p1.productId.compareTo(p2.productId) < 0) {
                return -1;
            }
            // at this point all a.b,c,d are equal... so return "equal"
            return 0;
        }
        @Override
        public boolean equals(Object obj) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            return super.equals(obj);
        }
    }

    class CompareByProductPrice implements Comparator<ProductBean> {
        @Override
        public int compare(ProductBean p1, ProductBean p2) {
            // this mean the first column is tied in thee two rows
            if (p1.price > p2.price) {
                return 1;
            }
            if (p1.price < p2.price) {
                return -1;
            }
            return 0;
        }
        public boolean equals(Object obj) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            return super.equals(obj);
        }
    }

    class CompareByCreateDate implements Comparator<ProductBean> {
        @Override
        public int compare(ProductBean p1, ProductBean p2) {
            if (p1.date.after(p2.date)) {
                return 1;
            }
            if (p1.date.before(p2.date)) {
                return -1;
            }
            return 0;
        }
        @Override
        public boolean equals(Object obj) {
            // TODO Auto-generated method stub
            return super.equals(obj);
        }
    }
}

Output is here for the above ProductBean list is done GROUP BY criteria, here if you see the input data that is given list of ProductBean to Collections.sort(list, object of Comparator for your required column) This will sort based on your comparator implementation and you will be able to see the GROUPED data in below output. Hope this helps...

    ******** BEFORE GROUPING INPUT DATA LOOKS THIS WAY ******
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 30 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P2 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P3 60 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ******** AFTER GROUP BY PRODUCT_ID ******
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 30 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P2 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P3 60 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]

    ******** AFTER GROUP BY PRICE ******
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P2 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 20 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P1 30 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]
    ProductBean [P3 60 Mon Nov 17 09:31:01 IST 2014]

Hibbert

Hi, please don't post the same answer multiple times, and please don't post raw code without an explanation about how it works and how it solves the problem in the question above. – Powell

Sorry buddy, there was some mistake in pasting the code, since it might have become multiple times. I have edited explanation for what I posted. Hope that looks fine now??? – Hibbert

I'm missing something or this code is sorting instead of grouping by a field? I see products sorted by ID, then by Price – Tysontyumen

Answer 8

public class Test9 {

    static class Student {

        String stud_id;
        String stud_name;
        String stud_location;

        public Student(String stud_id, String stud_name, String stud_location) {
            super();
            this.stud_id = stud_id;
            this.stud_name = stud_name;
            this.stud_location = stud_location;
        }

        public String getStud_id() {
            return stud_id;
        }

        public void setStud_id(String stud_id) {
            this.stud_id = stud_id;
        }

        public String getStud_name() {
            return stud_name;
        }

        public void setStud_name(String stud_name) {
            this.stud_name = stud_name;
        }

        public String getStud_location() {
            return stud_location;
        }

        public void setStud_location(String stud_location) {
            this.stud_location = stud_location;
        }

        @Override
        public String toString() {
            return " [stud_id=" + stud_id + ", stud_name=" + stud_name + "]";
        }

    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        List<Student> list = new ArrayList<Student>();
        list.add(new Student("1726", "John Easton", "Lancaster"));
        list.add(new Student("4321", "Max Carrados", "London"));
        list.add(new Student("2234", "Andrew Lewis", "Lancaster"));
        list.add(new Student("5223", "Michael Benson", "Leeds"));
        list.add(new Student("5225", "Sanath Jayasuriya", "Leeds"));
        list.add(new Student("7765", "Samuael Vatican", "California"));
        list.add(new Student("3442", "Mark Farley", "Ladykirk"));
        list.add(new Student("3443", "Alex Stuart", "Ladykirk"));
        list.add(new Student("4321", "Michael Stuart", "California"));

        Map<String, List<Student>> map1  =

                list
                .stream()

            .sorted(Comparator.comparing(Student::getStud_id)
                    .thenComparing(Student::getStud_name)
                    .thenComparing(Student::getStud_location)
                    )

                .collect(Collectors.groupingBy(

                ch -> ch.stud_location

        ));

        System.out.println(map1);

/*
  Output :

{Ladykirk=[ [stud_id=3442, stud_name=Mark Farley], 
 [stud_id=3443, stud_name=Alex Stuart]], 

 Leeds=[ [stud_id=5223, stud_name=Michael Benson],  
 [stud_id=5225, stud_name=Sanath Jayasuriya]],


  London=[ [stud_id=4321, stud_name=Max Carrados]],


   Lancaster=[ [stud_id=1726, stud_name=John Easton],  

   [stud_id=2234, stud_name=Andrew Lewis]], 


   California=[ [stud_id=4321, stud_name=Michael Stuart],  
   [stud_id=7765, stud_name=Samuael Vatican]]}
*/


    }// main
}

Finella

Answer 9

You could do this:

Map<String, List<Student>> map = new HashMap<String, List<Student>>();
List<Student> studlist = new ArrayList<Student>();
studlist.add(new Student("1726", "John", "New York"));
map.put("New York", studlist);

the keys will be locations and the values list of students. So later you can get a group of students just by using:

studlist = map.get("New York");

Caddish

Answer 10

you can use guava's Multimaps

@Canonical
class Persion {
     String name
     Integer age
}
List<Persion> list = [
   new Persion("qianzi", 100),
   new Persion("qianzi", 99),
   new Persion("zhijia", 99)
]
println Multimaps.index(list, { Persion p -> return p.name })

it print:

[qianzi:[com.ctcf.message.Persion(qianzi, 100),com.ctcf.message.Persion(qianzi, 88)],zhijia:[com.ctcf.message.Persion(zhijia, 99)]]

Commune

Answer 11

Function<Student, List<Object>> compositKey = std ->
                Arrays.asList(std.stud_location());
        studentList.stream().collect(Collectors.groupingBy(compositKey, Collectors.toList()));

If you want to add multiple objects for group by you can simply add the object in compositKey method separating by a comma:

Function<Student, List<Object>> compositKey = std ->
                Arrays.asList(std.stud_location(),std.stud_name());
        studentList.stream().collect(Collectors.groupingBy(compositKey, Collectors.toList()));

Irkutsk

Answer 12

  @Override
public boolean equals(Object o) {
    if (this == o) return true;
    if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) return false;
    KeyValuePair<?, ?> that = (KeyValuePair<?, ?>) o;
    return Objects.equals(key, that.key) && Objects.equals(value, that.value);
}

@Override
public int hashCode() {
    return Objects.hash(key, value);
}

Louisiana

Answer 13

You can sort like this:

    Collections.sort(studlist, new Comparator<Student>() {

        @Override
        public int compare(Student o1, Student o2) {
            return o1.getStud_location().compareTo(o2.getStud_location());
        }
    });

Assuming you also have the getter for location on your Student class.

Directional

Why Sort ? The problem is to group the elements ! – Pennywise