IntStream limit() in Java

IntStream limit(long maxSize) returns a stream consisting of the elements of this stream, truncated to be no longer than maxSize in length.

Note : IntStream limit() is a short-circuiting stateful intermediate operation i.e, when processed with an infinite input, it may produce a finite stream as a result without processing the entire input.

Syntax :

IntStream limit(long maxSize)

Parameters :

1. IntStream : A sequence of primitive int-valued elements. This is the int primitive specialization of Stream.
2. maxSize : The number of elements the stream should be limited to.

Return Value : The function returns a stream consisting of the elements of this stream, truncated to be no longer than maxSize in length.

Exception : The function throws IllegalArgumentException if maxSize is negative.

Example 1 :

// Java code for IntStream limit
// (long maxSize)
import java.util.*;
import java.util.stream.IntStream;

class GFG {

    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Creating an IntStream
        IntStream stream = IntStream.of(2, 4, 6, 8, 10);

        // Using IntStream limit(long maxSize) to
        // get a stream consisting of the elements of
        // this stream, truncated to be no longer
        // than maxSize in length.
        stream.limit(3).forEach(System.out::println);
    }
}

Output :

2
4
6

Example 2 :

// Java code for IntStream limit
// (long maxSize)
import java.util.*;
import java.util.stream.IntStream;

class GFG {

    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Creating an IntStream of numbers [5, 6, .. 11]
        IntStream stream = IntStream.range(5, 12);

        // Using IntStream limit(long maxSize) to
        // get a stream consisting of the elements of
        // this stream, truncated to be no longer
        // than maxSize in length.
        stream.limit(4).forEach(System.out::println);
    }
}

Output :

5
6
7
8

Example 3 :

// Java code for IntStream limit
// (long maxSize)
import java.util.*;
import java.util.stream.IntStream;

class GFG {

    // Driver code
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Creating an IntStream
        IntStream stream = IntStream.iterate(4, num -> num + 2);

        // Using IntStream limit(long maxSize) to
        // get a stream consisting of the elements of
        // this stream, truncated to be no longer
        // than maxSize in length.
        stream.limit(4).forEach(System.out::println);
    }
}

Output :

4
6
8
10

Difference between IntStream limit() and IntStream skip() :

1. The limit() method returns a reduced stream of first maxSize elements but skip() method returns a stream of remaining elements after skipping first maxSize elements.
2. limit() is a short-circuiting stateful intermediate operation i.e, when processed with an infinite input, it may produce a finite stream as a result without processing the entire input but skip() is a stateful intermediate operation i.e, it may need to process the entire input before producing a result.