How to Get the Last Element from a List in Java 8?

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There are multiple ways to get the last element from a List in Java 8.

Using Java 8 reduce() Method :

  • The reduce() method is part of the Stream API .
  • It processes each element in the stream one by one.
  • In the lambda expression:
    • The first parameter (first) represents the previous value.
    • The second parameter (second) represents the current element.
  • The logic (first, second) -> second ensures that the latest element replaces the previous one, resulting in the last element.
  • It returns an Optional:
    • Use orElse() to provide a default value if the list is empty.

Using get() Method with size() :

  • The List interface provides the get(index) method.
  • The size() method returns the total number of elements in the list.
  • Since indexing starts from 0, the last element is located at: size() – 1
  • Always check if the list is empty before accessing:
    • To avoid IndexOutOfBoundsException.

Using Java 8 skip() Method :

  • The skip(n) method is used to skip the first n elements of a stream.
  • To get the last element:
    • Skip size() – 1 elements.
  • After skipping:
    • Use findFirst() to get the remaining (last) element.
  • It returns an Optional:
    • Use orElse() to handle the case when the list is empty.
				
					import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public class FindLastElement {
	public static void main(String[] args) {

		List<String> list = Arrays.asList("java", "Spring", "JSP", "Hibernate");
		// using reduce method
		String result = list.stream().reduce((first, second) -> second)
		                .orElse("No Element Found");
		System.out.println("first way output :- " + result);

		// using size method
		String str = list.isEmpty() ? null : list.get(list.size() - 1);
		System.out.println("second way output :- " + str);

		// third skip method
		String strData = list.stream().skip(list.size() - 1).findFirst()
		                 .orElse("Now Element Found");
		System.out.println("third way output :- " + strData);

	}
}

Output :-
first way output :- Hibernate
second way output :- Hibernate
third way output :- Hibernate

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