How to initialize HashSet values by construction?

Solution 1:

There is a shorthand that I use that is not very time efficient, but fits on a single line:

Set<String> h = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList("a", "b"));

Again, this is not time efficient since you are constructing an array, converting to a list and using that list to create a set.

When initializing static final sets I usually write it like this:

public static final String[] SET_VALUES = new String[] { "a", "b" };
public static final Set<String> MY_SET = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList(SET_VALUES));

Slightly less ugly and efficiency does not matter for the static initialization.

Solution 2:

Collection literals were scheduled for Java 7, but didn't make it in. So nothing automatic yet.

You can use guava's Sets:

Sets.newHashSet("a", "b", "c")

Or you can use the following syntax, which will create an anonymous class, but it's hacky:

Set<String> h = new HashSet<String>() {{
    add("a");
    add("b");
}};