Remove an Element at specific index from an Array in Java

Given an array of fixed length. The task is to remove an element at a specific index from the array.

Examples:

Input: arr[] = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }, index = 2
Output: arr[] = { 1, 2, 4, 5 }

Input: arr[] = { 4, 5, 9, 8, 1 }, index = 3
Output: arr[] = { 4, 5, 9, 1 }

Naive or Basic approach (Using another array): The basic approach includes finding the element at the specified index and then removing that element. The rest of the elements are copied into a new array. This would lead to an array of size one less than the original array.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

// Java program to remove an element 
// from a specific index from an array 
  
import java.util.Arrays; 
  
class GFG { 
  
    // Function to remove the element 
    public static int[] removeTheElement(int[] arr, 
                                          int index) 
    { 
  
        // If the array is empty 
        // or the index is not in array range 
        // return the original array 
        if (arr == null
            || index < 0
            || index >= arr.length) { 
  
            return arr; 
        } 
  
        // Create another array of size one less 
        int[] anotherArray = new int[arr.length - 1]; 
  
        // Copy the elements except the index 
        // from original array to the other array 
        for (int i = 0, k = 0; i < arr.length; i++) { 
  
            // if the index is 
            // the removal element index 
            if (i == index) { 
                continue; 
            } 
  
            // if the index is not 
            // the removal element index 
            anotherArray[k++] = arr[i]; 
        } 
  
        // return the resultant array 
        return anotherArray; 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
  
        // Get the array 
        int[] arr = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }; 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Original Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
  
        // Get the specific index 
        int index = 2; 
  
        // Print the index 
        System.out.println("Index to be removed: "
                           + index); 
  
        // Remove the element 
        arr = removeTheElement(arr, index); 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Resultant Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
    } 
} 

Output:

Original Array: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Index to be removed: 2
Resultant Array: [1, 2, 4, 5]

Using Java 8 Streams:

Approach:

Get the array and the index.
Convert the array into IntStream using IntStream.range() method.
Remove the specified index element using filter() method.
Map and form a new array of the filtered elements using map() and toArray() methods.
Return the formed array.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

// Java program to remove an element 
// from a specific index from an array 
  
import java.util.Arrays; 
import java.util.stream.IntStream; 
  
class GFG { 
  
    // Function to remove the element 
    public static int[] removeTheElement(int[] arr,  
                                          int index) 
    { 
  
        // If the array is empty 
        // or the index is not in array range 
        // return the original array 
        if (arr == null
            || index < 0
            || index >= arr.length) { 
  
            return arr; 
        } 
  
        // return the resultant array 
        return IntStream.range(0, arr.length) 
            .filter(i -> i != index) 
            .map(i -> arr[i]) 
            .toArray(); 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
  
        // Get the array 
        int[] arr = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }; 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Original Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
  
        // Get the specific index 
        int index = 2; 
  
        // Print the index 
        System.out.println("Index to be removed: "
                           + index); 
  
        // Remove the element 
        arr = removeTheElement(arr, index); 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Resultant Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
    } 
} 

Output:

Original Array: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Index to be removed: 2
Resultant Array: [1, 2, 4, 5]

Using ArrayList:

Approach:

Get the array and the index.
Form an ArrayList with the array elements.
Remove the specified index element using remove() method.
Form a new array of the ArrayList using mapToInt() and toArray() methods.
Return the formed array.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

// Java program to remove an element 
// from a specific index from an array 
  
import java.util.Arrays; 
import java.util.List; 
import java.util.stream.Collectors; 
import java.util.stream.IntStream; 
  
class GFG { 
  
    // Function to remove the element 
    public static int[] removeTheElement(int[] arr,  
                                           int index) 
    { 
  
        // If the array is empty 
        // or the index is not in array range 
        // return the original array 
        if (arr == null
            || index < 0
            || index >= arr.length) { 
  
            return arr; 
        } 
  
        // Create ArrayList from the array 
        List<Integer> arrayList = IntStream.of(arr) 
                                      .boxed() 
                                      .collect(Collectors.toList()); 
  
        // Remove the specified element 
        arrayList.remove(index); 
  
        // return the resultant array 
        return arrayList.stream() 
            .mapToInt(Integer::intValue) 
            .toArray(); 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        // Get the array 
        int[] arr = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }; 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Original Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
  
        // Get the specific index 
        int index = 2; 
  
        // Print the index 
        System.out.println("Index to be removed: "
                           + index); 
  
        // Remove the element 
        arr = removeTheElement(arr, index); 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Resultant Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
    } 
} 

Output:

Original Array: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Index to be removed: 2
Resultant Array: [1, 2, 4, 5]

Using System.arraycopy():

Approach:

Get the array and the index.
Create a new array of size one less than the size of original array.
Copy the elements from starting till index from original array to the other array using System.arraycopy()
Copy the elements from index + 1 till end from original array to the other array using System.arraycopy()
Return the formed array.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

// Java program to remove an element 
// from a specific index from an array 
  
import java.util.Arrays; 
  
class GFG { 
  
    // Function to remove the element 
    public static int[] removeTheElement(int[] arr,  
                                           int index) 
    { 
  
        // If the array is empty 
        // or the index is not in array range 
        // return the original array 
        if (arr == null
            || index < 0
            || index >= arr.length) { 
  
            return arr; 
        } 
  
        // Create another array of size one less 
        int[] anotherArray = new int[arr.length - 1]; 
  
        // Copy the elements from starting till index 
        // from original array to the other array 
        System.arraycopy(arr, 0, anotherArray, 0, index); 
  
        // Copy the elements from index + 1 till end 
        // from original array to the other array 
        System.arraycopy(arr, index + 1, 
                         anotherArray, index, 
                         arr.length - index - 1); 
  
        // return the resultant array 
        return anotherArray; 
    } 
  
    // Driver Code 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
        // Get the array 
        int[] arr = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }; 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Original Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
  
        // Get the specific index 
        int index = 2; 
  
        // Print the index 
        System.out.println("Index to be removed: "
                           + index); 
  
        // Remove the element 
        arr = removeTheElement(arr, index); 
  
        // Print the resultant array 
        System.out.println("Resultant Array: "
                           + Arrays.toString(arr)); 
    } 
} 

Output:

Original Array: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Index to be removed: 2
Resultant Array: [1, 2, 4, 5]

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