Since the new update (2018.2) IntelliJ IDEA underlines variables, when they are "unnecessarily" reassigned – this includes, however, each use of "+=".
Is this a mistake in the IDE or am I getting it wrong?
Please see this basic method as an example. (It just adds a list of numbers.)
Java – IntelliJ IDEA underlines variables when using += in JAVA
intellij-ideajavaunderlinevariables
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Summary ArrayList
with ArrayDeque
are preferable in many more use-cases than LinkedList
. If you're not sure — just start with ArrayList
.
TLDR, in ArrayList accessing an element takes constant time [O(1)] and adding an element takes O(n) time [worst case]. In LinkedList adding an element takes O(n) time and accessing also takes O(n) time but LinkedList uses more memory than ArrayList.
LinkedList
and ArrayList
are two different implementations of the List interface. LinkedList
implements it with a doubly-linked list. ArrayList
implements it with a dynamically re-sizing array.
As with standard linked list and array operations, the various methods will have different algorithmic runtimes.
For LinkedList<E>
get(int index)
is O(n) (with n/4 steps on average), but O(1) whenindex = 0
orindex = list.size() - 1
(in this case, you can also usegetFirst()
andgetLast()
). One of the main benefits ofLinkedList<E>
add(int index, E element)
is O(n) (with n/4 steps on average), but O(1) whenindex = 0
orindex = list.size() - 1
(in this case, you can also useaddFirst()
andaddLast()
/add()
). One of the main benefits ofLinkedList<E>
remove(int index)
is O(n) (with n/4 steps on average), but O(1) whenindex = 0
orindex = list.size() - 1
(in this case, you can also useremoveFirst()
andremoveLast()
). One of the main benefits ofLinkedList<E>
Iterator.remove()
is O(1). One of the main benefits ofLinkedList<E>
ListIterator.add(E element)
is O(1). One of the main benefits ofLinkedList<E>
Note: Many of the operations need n/4 steps on average, constant number of steps in the best case (e.g. index = 0), and n/2 steps in worst case (middle of list)
For ArrayList<E>
get(int index)
is O(1). Main benefit ofArrayList<E>
add(E element)
is O(1) amortized, but O(n) worst-case since the array must be resized and copiedadd(int index, E element)
is O(n) (with n/2 steps on average)remove(int index)
is O(n) (with n/2 steps on average)Iterator.remove()
is O(n) (with n/2 steps on average)ListIterator.add(E element)
is O(n) (with n/2 steps on average)
Note: Many of the operations need n/2 steps on average, constant number of steps in the best case (end of list), n steps in the worst case (start of list)
LinkedList<E>
allows for constant-time insertions or removals using iterators, but only sequential access of elements. In other words, you can walk the list forwards or backwards, but finding a position in the list takes time proportional to the size of the list. Javadoc says "operations that index into the list will traverse the list from the beginning or the end, whichever is closer", so those methods are O(n) (n/4 steps) on average, though O(1) for index = 0
.
ArrayList<E>
, on the other hand, allow fast random read access, so you can grab any element in constant time. But adding or removing from anywhere but the end requires shifting all the latter elements over, either to make an opening or fill the gap. Also, if you add more elements than the capacity of the underlying array, a new array (1.5 times the size) is allocated, and the old array is copied to the new one, so adding to an ArrayList
is O(n) in the worst case but constant on average.
So depending on the operations you intend to do, you should choose the implementations accordingly. Iterating over either kind of List is practically equally cheap. (Iterating over an ArrayList
is technically faster, but unless you're doing something really performance-sensitive, you shouldn't worry about this -- they're both constants.)
The main benefits of using a LinkedList
arise when you re-use existing iterators to insert and remove elements. These operations can then be done in O(1) by changing the list locally only. In an array list, the remainder of the array needs to be moved (i.e. copied). On the other side, seeking in a LinkedList
means following the links in O(n) (n/2 steps) for worst case, whereas in an ArrayList
the desired position can be computed mathematically and accessed in O(1).
Another benefit of using a LinkedList
arises when you add or remove from the head of the list, since those operations are O(1), while they are O(n) for ArrayList
. Note that ArrayDeque
may be a good alternative to LinkedList
for adding and removing from the head, but it is not a List
.
Also, if you have large lists, keep in mind that memory usage is also different. Each element of a LinkedList
has more overhead since pointers to the next and previous elements are also stored. ArrayLists
don't have this overhead. However, ArrayLists
take up as much memory as is allocated for the capacity, regardless of whether elements have actually been added.
The default initial capacity of an ArrayList
is pretty small (10 from Java 1.4 - 1.8). But since the underlying implementation is an array, the array must be resized if you add a lot of elements. To avoid the high cost of resizing when you know you're going to add a lot of elements, construct the ArrayList
with a higher initial capacity.
If the data structures perspective is used to understand the two structures, a LinkedList is basically a sequential data structure which contains a head Node. The Node is a wrapper for two components : a value of type T [accepted through generics] and another reference to the Node linked to it. So, we can assert it is a recursive data structure (a Node contains another Node which has another Node and so on...). Addition of elements takes linear time in LinkedList as stated above.
An ArrayList, is a growable array. It is just like a regular array. Under the hood, when an element is added at index i, it creates another array with a size which is 1 greater than previous size (So in general, when n elements are to be added to an ArrayList, a new array of size previous size plus n is created). The elements are then copied from previous array to new one and the elements that are to be added are also placed at the specified indices.
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Best Answer
It's a new feature of IntelliJ IDEA 2018.2:
Underlining reassigned local variables and reassigned parameters
IntelliJ IDEA now underlines reassigned local variables and reassigned parameters, by default. The attributes for all the languages supporting this feature, which for now include Java and Groovy, can be changed in Preferences/Settings | Editor | Color Scheme | Language Defaults | Identifiers | Reassigned.
Why it may be useful?
If the variable/parameter is underlined, you know that you can't use it in lambda/anonymous class directly.
When reading a very long method code, if the parameter is not underlined, you know for sure that its value is not reassigned anywhere in this method and it contains exactly the same value that was passed to this method at any point.
Some code guidelines are against reassigned variables and you may want to avoid them where possible to keep the code clean and make it easier to read/debug.
Nowadays many developers prefer to avoid mutable state, and reassign variables only in rare cases when it is really necessary. We don't want to manually enforce immutability, we suppose that everything is immutable by default and want to bring additional attention to the cases when something is not. If you use
final
to mark non-mutable variables it means that you need to write more code for regular cases and less code in exceptional cases. (BTW in modern languages declaring immutable variables doesn't require writing additional code, but unfortunately not in Java).Brian Goetz, Java Language Architect, also likes the way IntelliJ IDEA highlights reassigned variables (see his tweet).