Iterating through a Collection, avoiding ConcurrentModificationException when removing objects in a loop

Iterator.remove() is safe, you can use it like this:

List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();

// This is a clever way to create the iterator and call iterator.hasNext() like
// you would do in a while-loop. It would be the same as doing:
//     Iterator<String> iterator = list.iterator();
//     while (iterator.hasNext()) {
for (Iterator<String> iterator = list.iterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
    String string = iterator.next();
    if (string.isEmpty()) {
        // Remove the current element from the iterator and the list.
        iterator.remove();
    }
}

Note that Iterator.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.

Source: docs.oracle > The Collection Interface

And similarly, if you have a ListIterator and want to add items, you can use ListIterator#add, for the same reason you can use Iterator#remove — it's designed to allow it.

In your case you tried to remove from a list, but the same restriction applies if trying to put into a Map while iterating its content.

This works:

Iterator<Integer> iter = l.iterator();
while (iter.hasNext()) {
    if (iter.next() == 5) {
        iter.remove();
    }
}

I assumed that since a foreach loop is syntactic sugar for iterating, using an iterator wouldn't help... but it gives you this .remove() functionality.

You can either use the iterator directly like you mentioned, or else keep a second collection and add each item you want to remove to the new collection, then removeAll at the end. This allows you to keep using the type-safety of the for-each loop at the cost of increased memory use and cpu time (shouldn't be a huge problem unless you have really, really big lists or a really old computer)

public static void main(String[] args)
{
    Collection<Integer> l = new ArrayList<Integer>();
    Collection<Integer> itemsToRemove = new ArrayList<>();
    for (int i=0; i < 10; i++) {
        l.add(Integer.of(4));
        l.add(Integer.of(5));
        l.add(Integer.of(6));
    }
    for (Integer i : l)
    {
        if (i.intValue() == 5) {
            itemsToRemove.add(i);
        }
    }

    l.removeAll(itemsToRemove);
    System.out.println(l);
}

Another way is to use a copy of your arrayList just for iteration:

List<Object> l = ...
    
List<Object> iterationList = ImmutableList.copyOf(l);
    
for (Object curr : iterationList) {
    if (condition(curr)) {
        l.remove(curr);
    }
}

A ListIterator allows you to add or remove items in the list. Suppose you have a list of Car objects:

List<Car> cars = ArrayList<>();
// add cars here...

for (ListIterator<Car> carIterator = cars.listIterator();  carIterator.hasNext(); )
{
   if (<some-condition>)
   { 
      carIterator().remove()
   }
   else if (<some-other-condition>)
   { 
      carIterator().add(aNewCar);
   }
}

I know this question is too old to be about Java 8, but for those using Java 8 you can easily use removeIf():

Collection<Integer> l = new ArrayList<Integer>();

for (int i=0; i < 10; ++i) {
    l.add(new Integer(4));
    l.add(new Integer(5));
    l.add(new Integer(6));
}

l.removeIf(i -> i.intValue() == 5);

Now, You can remove with the following code

l.removeIf(current -> current == 5);

Java Concurrent Modification Exception

1. Single thread

Iterator<String> iterator = list.iterator();
while (iterator.hasNext()) {
    String value = iter.next()
    if (value == "A") {
        list.remove(it.next()); //throws ConcurrentModificationException
    }
}

Solution: iterator remove() method

Iterator<String> iterator = list.iterator();
while (iterator.hasNext()) {
    String value = iter.next()
    if (value == "A") {
        it.remove()
    }
}

2. Multi thread

• copy/convert and iterate over another one collection. For small collections
• synchronize^[About]
• thread safe collection^[About]

I have a suggestion for the problem above. No need of secondary list or any extra time. Please find an example which would do the same stuff but in a different way.

//"list" is ArrayList<Object>
//"state" is some boolean variable, which when set to true, Object will be removed from the list
int index = 0;
while(index < list.size()) {
    Object r = list.get(index);
    if( state ) {
        list.remove(index);
        index = 0;
        continue;
    }
    index += 1;
}

This would avoid the Concurrency Exception.

The best way (recommended) is use of java.util.concurrent package. By using this package you can easily avoid this exception. Refer Modified Code:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Collection<Integer> l = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<Integer>();
    
    for (int i=0; i < 10; ++i) {
        l.add(new Integer(4));
        l.add(new Integer(5));
        l.add(new Integer(6));
    }
    
    for (Integer i : l) {
        if (i.intValue() == 5) {
            l.remove(i);
        }
    }
    
    System.out.println(l);
}

Example of thread safe collection modification:

public class Example {
    private final List<String> queue = Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<String>());

    public void removeFromQueue() {
        synchronized (queue) {
            Iterator<String> iterator = queue.iterator();
            String string = iterator.next();
            if (string.isEmpty()) {
                iterator.remove();
            }
        }
    }
}

One solution could be to rotate the list and remove the first element to avoid the ConcurrentModificationException or IndexOutOfBoundsException

int n = list.size();
for(int j=0;j<n;j++){
    //you can also put a condition before remove
    list.remove(0);
    Collections.rotate(list, 1);
}
Collections.rotate(list, -1);

Try this one (removes all elements in the list that equal i):

for (Object i : l) {
    if (condition(i)) {
        l = (l.stream().filter((a) -> a != i)).collect(Collectors.toList());
    }
}

You can use a while loop.

Iterator<Map.Entry<String, String>> iterator = map.entrySet().iterator();
while(iterator.hasNext()){
    Map.Entry<String, String> entry = iterator.next();
    if(entry.getKey().equals("test")) {
        iterator.remove();
    } 
}

I ended up with this ConcurrentModificationException, while iterating the list using stream().map() method. However the for(:) did not throw the exception while iterating and modifying the the list.

Here is code snippet , if its of help to anyone: here I'm iterating on a ArrayList<BuildEntity> , and modifying it using the list.remove(obj)

 for(BuildEntity build : uniqueBuildEntities){
            if(build!=null){
                if(isBuildCrashedWithErrors(build)){
                    log.info("The following build crashed with errors ,  will not be persisted -> \n{}"
                            ,build.getBuildUrl());
                    uniqueBuildEntities.remove(build);
                    if (uniqueBuildEntities.isEmpty()) return  EMPTY_LIST;
                }
            }
        }
        if(uniqueBuildEntities.size()>0) {
            dbEntries.addAll(uniqueBuildEntities);
        }

If using HashMap, in newer versions of Java (8+) you can select each of 3 options:

public class UserProfileEntity {
    private String Code;
    private String mobileNumber;
    private LocalDateTime inputDT;
    // getters and setters here
}
HashMap<String, UserProfileEntity> upMap = new HashMap<>();


// remove by value
upMap.values().removeIf(value -> !value.getCode().contains("0005"));

// remove by key
upMap.keySet().removeIf(key -> key.contentEquals("testUser"));

// remove by entry / key + value
upMap.entrySet().removeIf(entry -> (entry.getKey().endsWith("admin") || entry.getValue().getInputDT().isBefore(LocalDateTime.now().minusMinutes(3)));

I know this question assumes just a Collection, and not more specifically any List. But for those reading this question who are indeed working with a List reference, you can avoid ConcurrentModificationException with a while-loop (while modifying within it) instead if you want to avoid Iterator (either if you want to avoid it in general, or avoid it specifically to achieve a looping order different from start-to-end stopping at each element [which I believe is the only order Iterator itself can do]):

*Update: See comments below that clarify the analogous is also achievable with the traditional-for-loop.

final List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<>();
for(int i = 0; i < 10; ++i){
    list.add(i);
}

int i = 1;
while(i < list.size()){
    if(list.get(i) % 2 == 0){
        list.remove(i++);

    } else {
        i += 2;
    }
}

No ConcurrentModificationException from that code.

There we see looping not start at the beginning, and not stop at every element (which I believe Iterator itself can't do).

FWIW we also see get being called on list, which could not be done if its reference was just Collection (instead of the more specific List-type of Collection) - List interface includes get, but Collection interface does not. If not for that difference, then the list reference could instead be a Collection [and therefore technically this Answer would then be a direct Answer, instead of a tangential Answer].

FWIWW same code still works after modified to start at beginning at stop at every element (just like Iterator order):

final List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<>();
for(int i = 0; i < 10; ++i){
    list.add(i);
}

int i = 0;
while(i < list.size()){
    if(list.get(i) % 2 == 0){
        list.remove(i);

    } else {
        ++i;
    }
}

you can also use Recursion

Recursion in java is a process in which a method calls itself continuously. A method in java that calls itself is called recursive method.