Remove null + empty + duplicate elements in arraylist of string

Question

I am looking for the best and fast way(performance wise) to remove null, empty and duplicate elements in arraylist of string. This method can be called maximum 700 times and the list can contains around 13 strings maximum. I have created a test case and I can not get an exact value of the execution time to make the difference between both codes below If someone has an idea, thanks.

//Delete null, empty and duplicate element in sting arrayList public static void removeNullAndEmptyAndDuplicateElementsInList(List<String> stringList) { if (stringList != null && !variablesList.isEmpty() && variablesList.size()>1) { for (int x = stringList.size() - 1; x >= 0; x--) { if (stringList.get(x) == null || stringList.get(x).isEmpty()) { stringList.remove(x); } else { for (int y = 0; y < x; y++) { if (stringList.get(x).equals(stringList.get(y))) { stringList.remove(x); break; } } } } } } 

or Java 8

public static void removeNullAndEmptyAndDuplicateElementsInList(List<String> stringList) { if (stringList != null && !variablesList.isEmpty() && variablesList.size()>1) { Set<String> stringListSet = stringList.stream() .filter(var -> (var != null && !var.isEmpty())) .distinct() .collect(Collectors.toCollection(HashSet::new)); stringList = new ArrayList<String>(stringListSet); } } 

Answer 1

Do you need them in a List in the first place?

Wouldn't it be easier to create it as a Set from the start, and only add elements if they're not null or empty.

That way all your conditions are checked: no null, empty or duplicates (implicit thanks to Set).