Groovy JDK

java.util
Class Collection

Method Summary
boolean addAll(Object[] items)
Modifies the collection by adding all of the elements in the specified array to the collection.
boolean asBoolean()
Coerce a collection instance to a boolean value.
Collection asImmutable()
A convenience method for creating an immutable Collection.
List asList()
Converts this Collection to a List.
Collection asSynchronized()
A convenience method for creating a synchronized Collection.
Object asType(Class clazz)
Converts the given collection to another type.
List collect(Closure closure)
Iterates through this collection transforming each entry into a new value using the closure as a transformer, returning a list of transformed values.
Collection collect(Collection collection, Closure closure)
Iterates through this collection transforming each value into a new value using the closure as a transformer, returning an initial collection plus the transformed values.
List collectAll(Closure closure)
Recursively iterates through this collection transforming each non-Collection value into a new value using the closure as a transformer.
Collection collectAll(Collection collection, Closure closure)
Recursively iterates through this collection transforming each non-Collection value into a new value using the closure as a transformer.
Map collectEntries(Map result, Closure closure)
Iterates through this Collection transforming each item using the closure as a transformer into a map entry, returning a map of the transformed entries.
Map collectEntries(Closure closure)
Iterates through this Collection transforming each item using the closure as a transformer into a map entry, returning a map of the transformed entries.
List combinations()
Adds GroovyCollections#combinations(Collection) as a method on collections.
boolean containsAll(Object[] items)
Returns true if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified array.
Number count(Object value)
Counts the number of occurrences of the given value inside this collection.
Number count(Closure closure)
Counts the number of occurrences which satisfy the given closure from inside this collection.
Map countBy(Closure closure)
Sorts all collection members into groups determined by the supplied mapping closure and counts the group size.
boolean disjoint(Collection right)
Returns true if the intersection of two collections is empty.
Iterator eachPermutation(Closure closure)
Iterates over all permutations of a collection, running a closure for each iteration.
Object find(Closure closure)
Finds the first value matching the closure condition.
Collection findAll(Closure closure)
Finds all values matching the closure condition.
Object findResult(Object defaultResult, Closure closure)
Iterates through the object and returns the first non-null result from the closure, if all are null, it returns the defaultResult.
Object findResult(Closure closure)
Iterates through the object and returns the first non-null result from the closure.
Collection flatten()
Flatten a collection.
Collection flatten(Closure flattenUsing)
Flatten a collection.
List getAt(String property)
Support the subscript operator for Collection.
Map groupBy(Closure closure)
Sorts all collection members into groups determined by the supplied mapping closure.
Object inject(Object initialValue, Closure closure)
Iterates through the given Collection, passing in the initial value to the 2-arg closure along with the first item.
Collection intersect(Collection right)
Create a Collection composed of the intersection of both collections.
boolean isCase(Object switchValue)
'Case' implementation for collections which tests if the 'switch' operand is contained in any of the 'case' values.
String join(String separator)
Concatenates the toString() representation of each item in this collection, with the given String as a separator between each item.
Collection leftShift(Object value)
Overloads the left shift operator to provide an easy way to append objects to a Collection.
Object max()
Adds max() method to Collection objects.
Object max(Closure closure)
Selects an item in the collection having the maximum value as determined by the supplied closure.
Object max(Comparator comparator)
Selects the maximum value found in the collection using the given comparator.
Object min()
Adds min() method to Collection objects.
Object min(Comparator comparator)
Selects the minimum value found in the collection using the given comparator.
Object min(Closure closure)
Selects an item in the collection having the minimum value as determined by the supplied closure.
List multiply(Number factor)
Create a List composed of the elements of this list, repeated a certain number of times.
Collection plus(Collection right)
Create a Collection as a union of two collections.
Collection plus(Object right)
Create a collection as a union of a Collection and an Object.
boolean removeAll(Object[] items)
Modifies this collection by removing its elements that are contained within the specified object array.
boolean removeAll(Closure condition)
Modifies this collection by removing the elements that are matched according to the specified closure condition.
boolean retainAll(Object[] items)
Modifies this collection so that it retains only its elements that are contained in the specified array.
boolean retainAll(Closure condition)
Modifies this collection so that it retains only its elements that are matched according to the specified closure condition.
List sort()
Sorts the Collection.
List sort(Comparator comparator)
Sorts the Collection using the given Comparator.
List sort(Closure closure)
Sorts this Collection using the given Closure to determine the correct ordering.
Collection split(Closure closure)
Splits all items into two collections based on the closure condition.
Object sum()
Sums the items in a collection.
Object sum(Object initialValue)
Sums the items in a collection, adding the result to some initial value.
Object sum(Closure closure)
Sums the result of apply a closure to each item of a collection.
Object sum(Object initialValue, Closure closure)
Sums the result of applying a closure to each item of a collection to some initial value.
List toList()
Convert a Collection to a List.
String toListString()
Returns the string representation of the given list.
String toListString(int maxSize)
Returns the string representation of the given list.
Set toSet()
Convert a Collection to a Set.
Collection unique()
Modifies this collection to remove all duplicated items, using the default comparator.
Collection unique(Closure closure)
A convenience method for making a collection unique using a Closure to determine duplicate (equal) items.
Collection unique(Comparator comparator)
Remove all duplicates from a given Collection.
 
Method Detail

addAll

public boolean addAll(Object[] items)
 
Modifies the collection by adding all of the elements in the specified array to the collection. The behavior of this operation is undefined if the specified array is modified while the operation is in progress. See also plus or the '+' operator if wanting to produce a new collection containing additional items but while leaving the original collection unchanged.
Parameters:
items - array containing elements to be added to this collection.
Returns:
true if this collection changed as a result of the call
Since:
1.7.2
See:
Collection#addAll(Collection).

asBoolean

public boolean asBoolean()
 
Coerce a collection instance to a boolean value. A collection is coerced to false if it's empty, and to true otherwise.
assert [1,2].asBoolean() == true
assert [].asBoolean() == false
Returns:
the boolean value
Since:
1.7.0

asImmutable

public Collection asImmutable()
 
A convenience method for creating an immutable Collection.
def mutable = [1,2,3]
def immutable = mutable.asImmutable()
mutable << 4
try {
  immutable << 4
  assert false
} catch (UnsupportedOperationException) {
  assert true
}
Returns:
an immutable Collection
Since:
1.5.0
See:
Collections#unmodifiableCollection.

asList

public List asList()
 
Converts this Collection to a List. Returns the original Collection if it is already a List.

Example usage:

assert new HashSet().asList() instanceof List
Returns:
a newly created List if this collection is not already a List
Since:
1.0

asSynchronized

public Collection asSynchronized()
 
A convenience method for creating a synchronized Collection.
Returns:
a synchronized Collection
Since:
1.0
See:
Collections#synchronizedCollection.

asType

public Object asType(Class clazz)
 
Converts the given collection to another type. A default concrete type is used for List, Set, or SortedSet. If the given type has a constructor taking a collection, that is used. Otherwise, the call is deferred to {link #asType(Object,Class)}. If this collection is already of the given type, the same instance is returned.
Parameters:
clazz - the desired class.
Returns:
the object resulting from this type conversion
Since:
1.0
See:
Object#asType.

collect

public List collect(Closure closure)
 
Iterates through this collection transforming each entry into a new value using the closure as a transformer, returning a list of transformed values.
assert [2,4,6] == [1,2,3].collect { it * 2 }
Parameters:
closure - the closure used for mapping.
Returns:
a List of the transformed values
Since:
1.0

collect

public Collection collect(Collection collection, Closure closure)
 
Iterates through this collection transforming each value into a new value using the closure as a transformer, returning an initial collection plus the transformed values.
assert [1,2,3] as HashSet == [2,4,5,6].collect(new HashSet()) { (int)(it / 2) }
Parameters:
collection - an initial Collection to which the transformed values are added.
closure - the closure used to transform each element of the collection.
Returns:
the resulting collection of transformed values
Since:
1.0

collectAll

public List collectAll(Closure closure)
 
Recursively iterates through this collection transforming each non-Collection value into a new value using the closure as a transformer. Returns a potentially nested list of transformed values.
assert [2,[4,6],[8],[]] == [1,[2,3],[4],[]].collectAll { it * 2 }
Parameters:
closure - the closure used to transform each element of the collection.
Returns:
the resultant collection
Since:
1.5.2

collectAll

public Collection collectAll(Collection collection, Closure closure)
 
Recursively iterates through this collection transforming each non-Collection value into a new value using the closure as a transformer. Returns a potentially nested collection of transformed values.
def x = [1,[2,3],[4],[]].collectAll(new Vector()) { it * 2 }
assert x == [2,[4,6],[8],[]]
assert x instanceof Vector
Parameters:
collection - an initial Collection to which the transformed values are added.
closure - the closure used to transform each element of the collection.
Returns:
the resultant collection
Since:
1.5.2

collectEntries

public Map collectEntries(Map result, Closure closure)
 
Iterates through this Collection transforming each item using the closure as a transformer into a map entry, returning a map of the transformed entries.
def letters = "abc"
// collect letters with index
assert (0..2).collectEntries( [:] ) { index -> [index, letters[index]] } == [0:'a', 1:'b', 2:'c']
assert (0..2).collectEntries( [4:'d'] ) { index ->
    [(index+1): letters[index]] } == [1:'a', 2:'b', 3:'c', 4:'d']
Parameters:
result - the Map into which the collected entries are put.
closure - the closure used for mapping, which has an item from self as the parameter and should return a Map.Entry, a Map or a two-element list containing the resulting key and value.
Returns:
a Map of the transformed entries
Since:
1.7.9
See:
Map#collect(Collection, Closure).

collectEntries

public Map collectEntries(Closure closure)
 
Iterates through this Collection transforming each item using the closure as a transformer into a map entry, returning a map of the transformed entries.
def letters = "abc"
// collect letters with index using list style
assert (0..2).collectEntries { index -> [index, letters[index]] } == [0:'a', 1:'b', 2:'c']
// collect letters with index using map style
assert (0..2).collectEntries { index -> [(index): letters[index]] } == [0:'a', 1:'b', 2:'c']
Parameters:
closure - the closure used for mapping, which has an item from self as the parameter and should return a Map.Entry, a Map or a two-element list containing the resulting key and value.
Returns:
a Map of the transformed entries
Since:
1.7.9
See:
Collection#collectEntries(Map, Closure).

combinations

public List combinations()
 
Adds GroovyCollections#combinations(Collection) as a method on collections.

Example usage:

assert [['a', 'b'],[1, 2, 3]].combinations() == [['a', 1], ['b', 1], ['a', 2], ['b', 2], ['a', 3], ['b', 3]]
Returns:
a List of the combinations found
Since:
1.5.0
See:
GroovyCollections#combinations.

containsAll

public boolean containsAll(Object[] items)
 
Returns true if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified array.
Parameters:
items - array to be checked for containment in this collection.
Returns:
true if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified array
Since:
1.7.2
See:
Collection#containsAll(Collection).

count

public Number count(Object value)
 
Counts the number of occurrences of the given value inside this collection. Comparison is done using Groovy's == operator (using compareTo(value) == 0 or equals(value) ).

Example usage:

assert [2,4,2,1,3,5,2,4,3].count(4) == 2
Parameters:
value - the value being searched for.
Returns:
the number of occurrences
Since:
1.0

count

public Number count(Closure closure)
 
Counts the number of occurrences which satisfy the given closure from inside this collection.

Example usage:

assert [2,4,2,1,3,5,2,4,3].count{ it % 2 == 0 } == 5
Parameters:
closure - a closure condition.
Returns:
the number of occurrences
Since:
1.8.0

countBy

public Map countBy(Closure closure)
 
Sorts all collection members into groups determined by the supplied mapping closure and counts the group size. The closure should return the key that each item should be grouped by. The returned Map will have an entry for each distinct key returned from the closure, with each value being the frequency of items occurring for that group.

Example usage:

assert [0:2, 1:3] == [1,2,3,4,5].countBy { it % 2 }
Parameters:
closure - a closure mapping items to the frequency keys.
Returns:
a new Map grouped by keys with frequency counts
Since:
1.8.0

disjoint

public boolean disjoint(Collection right)
 
Returns true if the intersection of two collections is empty.
assert [1,2,3].disjoint([3,4,5]) == false
assert [1,2].disjoint([3,4]) == true
Parameters:
right - a Collection.
Returns:
boolean true if the intersection of two collections is empty, false otherwise.
Since:
1.0

eachPermutation

public Iterator eachPermutation(Closure closure)
 
Iterates over all permutations of a collection, running a closure for each iteration.

Example usage:

def permutations = []
[1, 2, 3].eachPermutation{ permutations << it }
assert permutations == [[1, 2, 3], [1, 3, 2], [2, 1, 3], [2, 3, 1], [3, 1, 2], [3, 2, 1]]
Parameters:
closure - the closure to call for each permutation.
Returns:
the permutations from the list
Since:
1.7.0

find

public Object find(Closure closure)
 
Finds the first value matching the closure condition. Example:
def list = [1,2,3]
assert 2 == list.find { it > 1 }
Parameters:
closure - a closure condition.
Returns:
the first Object found
Since:
1.0

findAll

public Collection findAll(Closure closure)
 
Finds all values matching the closure condition.
assert [2,4] == [1,2,3,4].findAll { it % 2 == 0 }
Parameters:
closure - a closure condition.
Returns:
a Collection of matching values
Since:
1.5.6

findResult

public Object findResult(Object defaultResult, Closure closure)
 
Iterates through the object and returns the first non-null result from the closure, if all are null, it returns the defaultResult. Examples:
def list = [1,2,3]
assert "Found 2" == list.findResult("default") { it > 1 ? "Found $it" : null }

assert "default" == list.findResult("default") { it > 3 ? "Found $it" : null }
Parameters:
defaultResult - an Object that should be returned if all closure results are null.
closure - a closure that returns a non-null value when processing should stop and a value should be returned.
Returns:
the first non-null result of the closure
Since:
1.7.5

findResult

public Object findResult(Closure closure)
 
Iterates through the object and returns the first non-null result from the closure. Example:
def list = [1,2,3]
assert "Found 2" == list.findResult { it > 1 ? "Found $it" : null }
Parameters:
closure - a closure that returns a non-null value when processing should stop and a value should be returned.
Returns:
the first non-null result of the closure
Since:
1.7.5

flatten

public Collection flatten()
 
Flatten a collection. This collection and any nested arrays or collections have their contents (recursively) added to the new collection.
assert [1,2,3,4,5] == [1,[2,3],[[4]],[],5].flatten()
Returns:
a flattened Collection
Since:
1.6.0

flatten

public Collection flatten(Closure flattenUsing)
 
Flatten a collection. This collection and any nested arrays or collections have their contents (recursively) added to the new collection. For any non-Array, non-Collection object which represents some sort of collective type, the supplied closure should yield the contained items; otherwise, the closure should just return any element which corresponds to a leaf.
Parameters:
flattenUsing - a closure to determine how to flatten non-Array, non-Collection elements.
Returns:
a flattened Collection
Since:
1.6.0

getAt

public List getAt(String property)
 
Support the subscript operator for Collection.
assert [String, Long, Integer] == ["a",5L,2]["class"]
Parameters:
property - a String.
Returns:
a List
Since:
1.0

groupBy

public Map groupBy(Closure closure)
 
Sorts all collection members into groups determined by the supplied mapping closure. The closure should return the key that this item should be grouped by. The returned LinkedHashMap will have an entry for each distinct key returned from the closure, with each value being a list of items for that group.

Example usage:

assert [0:[2,4,6], 1:[1,3,5]] == [1,2,3,4,5,6].groupBy { it % 2 }
Parameters:
closure - a closure mapping entries on keys.
Returns:
a new Map grouped by keys
Since:
1.0

inject

public Object inject(Object initialValue, Closure closure)
 
Iterates through the given Collection, passing in the initial value to the 2-arg closure along with the first item. The result is passed back (injected) into the closure along with the second item. The new result is injected back into the closure along with the third item and so on until the entire collection has been used. Also known as foldLeft in functional parlance. Examples:
assert 1*1*2*3*4 == [1,2,3,4].inject(1) { acc, val -> acc * val }

assert 0+1+2+3+4 == [1,2,3,4].inject(0) { acc, val -> acc + val }

assert 'The quick brown fox' ==
    ['quick', 'brown', 'fox'].inject('The') { acc, val -> acc + ' ' + val }

assert 'bat' ==
    ['rat', 'bat', 'cat'].inject('zzz') { min, next -> next < min ? next : min }

def max = { a, b -> [a, b].max() }
def animals = ['bat', 'rat', 'cat']
assert 'rat' == animals.inject('aaa', max)
Visual representation of the last example above:
   initVal  animals[0]
      v        v
max('aaa',   'bat')  =>  'bat'  animals[1]
                           v       v
                     max('bat',  'rat')  =>  'rat'  animals[2]
                                               v       v
                                         max('rat',  'cat')  =>  'rat'
Parameters:
initialValue - some initial value.
closure - a closure.
Returns:
the result of the last closure call
Since:
1.0

intersect

public Collection intersect(Collection right)
 
Create a Collection composed of the intersection of both collections. Any elements that exist in both collections are added to the resultant collection.
assert [4,5] == [1,2,3,4,5].intersect([4,5,6,7,8])
Parameters:
right - a Collection.
Returns:
a Collection as an intersection of both collections
Since:
1.5.6

isCase

public boolean isCase(Object switchValue)
 
'Case' implementation for collections which tests if the 'switch' operand is contained in any of the 'case' values. For example:
switch( 3 ) {
  case [1,3,5]:
    assert true
    break
  default:
    assert false
}
Parameters:
switchValue - the switch value.
Returns:
true if the caseValue is deemed to contain the switchValue
Since:
1.0
See:
Collection#contains.

join

public String join(String separator)
 
Concatenates the toString() representation of each item in this collection, with the given String as a separator between each item.
assert "1, 2, 3" == [1,2,3].join(", ")
Parameters:
separator - a String separator.
Returns:
the joined String
Since:
1.0

leftShift

public Collection leftShift(Object value)
 
Overloads the left shift operator to provide an easy way to append objects to a Collection.
def list = [1,2]
list << 3
assert list == [1,2,3]
Parameters:
value - an Object to be added to the collection..
Returns:
same collection, after the value was added to it.
Since:
1.0

max

public Object max()
 
Adds max() method to Collection objects.
assert 5 == [2,3,1,5,4].max()
Returns:
the maximum value
Since:
1.0
See:
GroovyCollections#max.

max

public Object max(Closure closure)
 
Selects an item in the collection having the maximum value as determined by the supplied closure. If more than one item has the maximum value, an arbitrary choice is made between the items having the maximum value.

If the closure has two parameters it is used like a traditional Comparator. I.e. it should compare its two parameters for order, returning a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer when the first parameter is less than, equal to, or greater than the second respectively. Otherwise, the Closure is assumed to take a single parameter and return a Comparable (typically an Integer) which is then used for further comparison.
assert "hello" == ["hello","hi","hey"].max { it.length() }
assert "hello" == ["hello","hi","hey"].max { a, b -> a.length() <=> b.length() }
def pets = ['dog', 'elephant', 'anaconda']
def longestName = pets.max{ it.size() } // one of 'elephant' or 'anaconda'
assert longestName.size() == 8
Parameters:
closure - a 1 or 2 arg Closure used to determine the correct ordering.
Returns:
the maximum value
Since:
1.0

max

public Object max(Comparator comparator)
 
Selects the maximum value found in the collection using the given comparator.
assert "hello" == ["hello","hi","hey"].max( { a, b -> a.length() <=> b.length() } as Comparator )
Parameters:
comparator - a Comparator.
Returns:
the maximum value
Since:
1.0

min

public Object min()
 
Adds min() method to Collection objects.
assert 2 == [4,2,5].min()
Returns:
the minimum value
Since:
1.0
See:
GroovyCollections#min.

min

public Object min(Comparator comparator)
 
Selects the minimum value found in the collection using the given comparator.
assert "hi" == ["hello","hi","hey"].min( { a, b -> a.length() <=> b.length() } as Comparator )
Parameters:
comparator - a Comparator.
Returns:
the minimum value
Since:
1.0

min

public Object min(Closure closure)
 
Selects an item in the collection having the minimum value as determined by the supplied closure. If more than one item has the minimum value, an arbitrary choice is made between the items having the minimum value.

If the closure has two parameters it is used like a traditional Comparator. I.e. it should compare its two parameters for order, returning a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer when the first parameter is less than, equal to, or greater than the second respectively. Otherwise, the Closure is assumed to take a single parameter and return a Comparable (typically an Integer) which is then used for further comparison.
assert "hi" == ["hello","hi","hey"].min { it.length() }
def lastDigit = { a, b -> a % 10 <=> b % 10 }
assert [19, 55, 91].min(lastDigit) == 91
def pets = ['dog', 'cat', 'anaconda']
def shortestName = pets.min{ it.size() } // one of 'dog' or 'cat'
assert shortestName.size() == 3
Parameters:
closure - a 1 or 2 arg Closure used to determine the correct ordering.
Returns:
the minimum value
Since:
1.0

multiply

public List multiply(Number factor)
 
Create a List composed of the elements of this list, repeated a certain number of times. Note that for non-primitive elements, multiple references to the same instance will be added.
assert [1,2,3,1,2,3] == [1,2,3] * 2
Parameters:
factor - the number of times to append.
Returns:
the multiplied list
Since:
1.0

plus

public Collection plus(Collection right)
 
Create a Collection as a union of two collections. If the left collection is a Set, then the returned collection will be a Set otherwise a List. This operation will always create a new object for the result, while the operands remain unchanged.
assert [1,2,3,4] == [1,2] + [3,4]
Parameters:
right - the right Collection.
Returns:
the merged Collection
Since:
1.5.0

plus

public Collection plus(Object right)
 
Create a collection as a union of a Collection and an Object. If the collection is a Set, then the returned collection will be a Set otherwise a List. This operation will always create a new object for the result, while the operands remain unchanged.
assert [1,2,3] == [1,2] + 3
Parameters:
right - an object to add/append.
Returns:
the resulting Collection
Since:
1.5.0

removeAll

public boolean removeAll(Object[] items)
 
Modifies this collection by removing its elements that are contained within the specified object array. See also findAll and grep when wanting to produce a new list containing items which don't match some criteria while leaving the original collection unchanged.
Parameters:
items - array containing elements to be removed from this collection.
Returns:
true if this collection changed as a result of the call
Since:
1.7.2
See:
Collection#removeAll(Collection).

removeAll

public boolean removeAll(Closure condition)
 
Modifies this collection by removing the elements that are matched according to the specified closure condition. See also findAll and grep when wanting to produce a new list containing items which don't match some criteria while leaving the original collection unchanged.
Parameters:
condition - a closure condition.
Returns:
true if this collection changed as a result of the call
Since:
1.7.2
See:
Iterator#remove().

retainAll

public boolean retainAll(Object[] items)
 
Modifies this collection so that it retains only its elements that are contained in the specified array. In other words, removes from this collection all of its elements that are not contained in the specified array. See also grep and findAll when wanting to produce a new list containing items which match some specified items but leaving the original collection unchanged.
Parameters:
items - array containing elements to be retained from this collection.
Returns:
true if this collection changed as a result of the call
Since:
1.7.2
See:
Collection#retainAll(Collection).

retainAll

public boolean retainAll(Closure condition)
 
Modifies this collection so that it retains only its elements that are matched according to the specified closure condition. In other words, removes from this collection all of its elements that don't match. See also findAll and grep when wanting to produce a new list containing items which match some criteria but leaving the original collection unchanged.
Parameters:
condition - a closure condition.
Returns:
true if this collection changed as a result of the call
Since:
1.7.2
See:
Iterator#remove().

sort

public List sort()
 
Sorts the Collection. Assumes that the collection items are comparable and uses their natural ordering to determine the resulting order. If the Collection is a List, it is sorted in place and returned. Otherwise, the elements are first placed into a new list which is then sorted and returned - leaving the original Collection unchanged.
assert [1,2,3] == [3,1,2].sort()
Returns:
the sorted collection as a List
Since:
1.0

sort

public List sort(Comparator comparator)
 
Sorts the Collection using the given Comparator. If the Collection is a List, it is sorted in place and returned. Otherwise, the elements are first placed into a new list which is then sorted and returned - leaving the original Collection unchanged.
assert ["hi","hey","hello"] == ["hello","hi","hey"].sort( { a, b -> a.length() <=> b.length() } as Comparator )
assert ["hello","Hey","hi"] == ["hello","hi","Hey"].sort(String.CASE_INSENSITIVE_ORDER)
Parameters:
comparator - a Comparator used for the comparison.
Returns:
a sorted List
Since:
1.0

sort

public List sort(Closure closure)
 
Sorts this Collection using the given Closure to determine the correct ordering. If the Collection is a List, it is sorted in place and returned. Otherwise, the elements are first placed into a new list which is then sorted and returned - leaving the original Collection unchanged.

If the Closure has two parameters it is used like a traditional Comparator. I.e. it should compare its two parameters for order, returning a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer when the first parameter is less than, equal to, or greater than the second respectively. Otherwise, the Closure is assumed to take a single parameter and return a Comparable (typically an Integer) which is then used for further comparison.
assert ["hi","hey","hello"] == ["hello","hi","hey"].sort { it.length() }
assert ["hi","hey","hello"] == ["hello","hi","hey"].sort { a, b -> a.length() <=> b.length() }
Parameters:
closure - a 1 or 2 arg Closure used to determine the correct ordering.
Returns:
a newly created sorted List
Since:
1.0

split

public Collection split(Closure closure)
 
Splits all items into two collections based on the closure condition. The first list contains all items which match the closure expression. The second list all those that don't.

Example usage:

assert [[2,4],[1,3]] == [1,2,3,4].split { it % 2 == 0 }
Parameters:
closure - a closure condition.
Returns:
a List whose first item is the accepted values and whose second item is the rejected values
Since:
1.6.0

sum

public Object sum()
 
Sums the items in a collection. This is equivalent to invoking the "plus" method on all items in the collection.
assert 1+2+3+4 == [1,2,3,4].sum()
Returns:
The sum of all of the items
Since:
1.0

sum

public Object sum(Object initialValue)
 
Sums the items in a collection, adding the result to some initial value.
assert 5+1+2+3+4 == [1,2,3,4].sum(5)
Parameters:
initialValue - the items in the collection will be summed to this initial value.
Returns:
The sum of all of the items.
Since:
1.5.0

sum

public Object sum(Closure closure)
 
Sums the result of apply a closure to each item of a collection. coll.sum(closure) is equivalent to: coll.collect(closure).sum().
assert 4+6+10+12 == [2,3,5,6].sum() { it * 2 }
Parameters:
closure - a single parameter closure that returns a numeric value..
Returns:
The sum of the values returned by applying the closure to each item of the collection.
Since:
1.0

sum

public Object sum(Object initialValue, Closure closure)
 
Sums the result of applying a closure to each item of a collection to some initial value. coll.sum(initVal, closure) is equivalent to: coll.collect(closure).sum(initVal).
assert 50+4+6+10+12 == [2,3,5,6].sum(50) { it * 2 }
Parameters:
closure - a single parameter closure that returns a numeric value..
initialValue - the closure results will be summed to this initial value.
Returns:
The sum of the values returned by applying the closure to each item of the collection.
Since:
1.5.0

toList

public List toList()
 
Convert a Collection to a List. Always returns a new List even if the Collection is already a List.

Example usage:

def x = [1,2,3] as HashSet
assert x.class == HashSet
assert x.toList() instanceof List
Returns:
a List
Since:
1.0

toListString

public String toListString()
 
Returns the string representation of the given list. The string displays the contents of the list, similar to a list literal, i.e. [1, 2, a].
Returns:
the string representation
Since:
1.0

toListString

public String toListString(int maxSize)
 
Returns the string representation of the given list. The string displays the contents of the list, similar to a list literal, i.e. [1, 2, a].
Parameters:
maxSize - stop after approximately this many characters and append '...'.
Returns:
the string representation
Since:
1.7.3

toSet

public Set toSet()
 
Convert a Collection to a Set. Always returns a new Set even if the Collection is already a Set.

Example usage:

def result = [1, 2, 2, 2, 3].toSet()
assert result instanceof Set
assert result == [1, 2, 3] as Set
Returns:
a Set
Since:
1.8.0

unique

public Collection unique()
 
Modifies this collection to remove all duplicated items, using the default comparator.
assert [1,3] == [1,3,3].unique()
Returns:
the now modified collection
Since:
1.0

unique

public Collection unique(Closure closure)
 
A convenience method for making a collection unique using a Closure to determine duplicate (equal) items.

If the closure takes a single parameter, the argument passed will be each element, and the closure should return a value used for comparison (either using Comparable#compareTo or Object#equals). If the closure takes two parameters, two items from the collection will be passed as arguments, and the closure should return an int value (with 0 indicating the items are not unique).
assert [1,4] == [1,3,4,5].unique { it % 2 }
assert [2,3,4] == [2,3,3,4].unique { a, b -> a <=> b }
Parameters:
closure - a 1 or 2 arg Closure used to determine unique items.
Returns:
self without any duplicates
Since:
1.0

unique

public Collection unique(Comparator comparator)
 
Remove all duplicates from a given Collection. Works on the original object (and also returns it). The order of members in the Collection are compared by the given Comparator. For each duplicate, the first member which is returned by the given Collection's iterator is retained, but all other ones are removed. The given Collection's original order is preserved.

    class Person {
        def fname, lname
        public String toString() {
            return fname + " " + lname
        }
    }

    class PersonComparator implements Comparator {
        public int compare(Object o1, Object o2) {
            Person p1 = (Person) o1
            Person p2 = (Person) o2
            if (p1.lname != p2.lname)
                return p1.lname.compareTo(p2.lname)
            else
                return p1.fname.compareTo(p2.fname)
        }

        public boolean equals(Object obj) {
            return this.equals(obj)
        }
    }

    Person a = new Person(fname:"John", lname:"Taylor")
    Person b = new Person(fname:"Clark", lname:"Taylor")
    Person c = new Person(fname:"Tom", lname:"Cruz")
    Person d = new Person(fname:"Clark", lname:"Taylor")

    def list = [a, b, c, d]
    List list2 = list.unique(new PersonComparator())
    assert( list2 == list && list == [a, b, c] )
Parameters:
comparator - a Comparator.
Returns:
self the now modified collection without duplicates
Since:
1.0

Groovy JDK