Converting an int array to a String array

So I have this "list" of ints. It could be a Vector, int[], List<Integer>, whatever.

My goal though is to sort the ints and end up with a String[]. How the int array starts out as is up in the air.

ex: Start with:{5,1,2,11,3} End with: String[] = {"1","2","3","5","11"}

Is there anyway to do this without a for loop? I have a for loop now for collecting the ints. I would rather skip doing another for loop.

int[] nums = {5,1,2,11,3}; //List or Vector
Arrays.sort(nums); //Collections.sort() for List,Vector
String a=Arrays.toString(nums); //toString the List or Vector
String ar[]=a.substring(1,a.length()-1).split(", ");
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(ar));

UPDATE:

A shorter version:

int[] nums = {-5,1,2,11,3};
Arrays.sort(nums);
String[] a=Arrays.toString(nums).split("[\\[\\]]")[1].split(", "); 
System.out.println(Arrays.toString(a));  

Use a Stream which is available from Java 8. To get a Stream instance with "list" of ints:

• For int[]
  • IntStream intStream = Arrays.Stream(nums); or
  • Stream<Integer> intStream = Arrays.Stream(nums).boxed(); if you need the same class as bottom one.
• For any classes with Collection<Integer> interface (ex. Vector<Integer>, List<Integer>)
  • Stream<Integer> intStream = nums.stream();

Finally, to get a String[]:

String[] answer = intStream.sorted().mapToObj(String::valueOf).toArray(String[]::new);

Can I use a while loop instead?

@Test
public void test() {
    int[] nums = {5,1,2,11,3};

    Arrays.sort(nums);

    String[] stringNums = new String[nums.length];
    int i = 0;
    while (i < nums.length) {
        stringNums[i] = String.valueOf(nums[i++]);
    }

    Assert.assertArrayEquals(new String[]{"1","2","3","5","11"}, stringNums);
}

Using JUnit assertions.

Sorry, I'm being flippant. But saying you can't use a for loop is daft - you've got to iterate over the list somehow. If you're going to call a library method to sort it for you (cf Collections.sort()) - that will be looping somehow over the elements.