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ArrayDeque in Java

Last Updated : 24 Mar, 2026

ArrayDeque is a resizable-array implementation of the Deque interface in Java. it allows elements to be added or removed from both ends efficiently and it not allow null element insertion .

ArrayDeque grows dynamically.
It generally provides faster operations than LinkedList as it is more cache friendly and does not require overhead of next previous reference management.
Operations like addFirst(), addLast(), removeFirst(), removeLast() are done in O(1) amortized time.
ArrayDeque is not Thread-Safe

Declaration of ArrayDeque

In Java, the declaration of ArrayDeque can be done as:

ArrayDeque<Type> deque = new ArrayDeque<>();

Here, "Type" is the type of the element the deque will hold (e.g. Integer, String).

Java

import java.util.ArrayDeque;
import java.util.Deque;

public class Geeks {
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        Deque<Integer> d = new ArrayDeque<>();
        d.addFirst(1);
        d.addLast(2);
        int f = d.removeFirst();
        int l = d.removeLast();
        System.out.println("First: " + f + ", Last: " + l);
    }
}

Output

First: 1, Last: 2

Hierarchy of ArrayDeque

It implements Queue and Deque interfaces and is a part of the Collection framework.

Constructors of ArrayDeque

1. ArrayDeque()

This constructor is used to create an empty ArrayDeque and by default holds an initial capacity to hold 16 elements.

ArrayDeque<Integer> deque = new ArrayDeque<>();

2. ArrayDeque(Collection<? extends E> c)

This constructor is used to create an ArrayDeque containing all the elements the same as that of the specified collection.

ArrayDeque<Integer> deque = new ArrayDeque<>(list);

3. ArrayDeque(int numofElements)

This constructor is used to create an empty ArrayDeque and holds the capacity to contain a specified number of elements.

ArrayDeque<String> deque = new ArrayDeque<>(25); // capacity = 25

Performing Various Operations on ArrayDeque

1. Adding Element

We can use methods like add(), addFirst(), addLast(), offer(), offerFirst(), offerLast() to insert element to the ArrayDeque.

Java

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class Geeks {

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Initializing a deque since deque is an interface. it is assigned the ArrayDeque class
        Deque<String> d = new ArrayDeque<String>();

        // add() method to insert
        d.add("The");
        d.addFirst("To");
        d.addLast("Geeks");

        // offer() method to insert
        d.offer("For");
        d.offerFirst("Welcome");
        d.offerLast("Geeks");

        System.out.println("ArrayDeque : " + d);
    }
}

Output

ArrayDeque : [Welcome, To, The, Geeks, For, Geeks]

2. Accessing Elements

We can use methods like getFirst(), getLast(), peek(), peekFirst(), peekLast() to access elements of the ArrayDeque.

Java

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
public class Geeks {

    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        // Creating an empty ArrayDeque
        ArrayDeque<String> d = new ArrayDeque<String>();

        // Using add() method to add elements into the Deque Custom input elements
        d.add("Welcome");
        d.add("To");
        d.add("Geeks");
        d.add("for");
        d.add("Geeks");

        // Displaying the ArrayDeque
        System.out.println("ArrayDeque: " + d);

        // Displaying the First element
        System.out.println("The first element is: " + d.getFirst());

        // Displaying the Last element
        System.out.println("The last element is: " + d.getLast());
    }
}

Output

ArrayDeque: [Welcome, To, Geeks, for, Geeks]
The first element is: Welcome
The last element is: Geeks

3. Removing Elements

We can use various methods like remove(), removeFirst(), removeLast(), poll(), pollFirst(), pollLast(), pop() to remove elements from the ArrayDeque.

Java

import java.util.*;
public class Geeks {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        
        // Initializing a deque
        Deque<String> d = new ArrayDeque<String>();

        // Adding elements
        d.add("Java");
        d.addFirst("C++");
        d.addLast("Python");

        // Printing initial elements
        System.out.println("Initial Deque: " + d);

        // Removing elements as a stack from top/front
        System.out.println("Removed element using pop(): " + d.pop());

        // Removing an element from the front
        System.out.println("Removed element using poll(): " + d.poll());

        // Removing an element from the front using pollFirst
        System.out.println("Removed element using pollFirst(): " + d.pollFirst());

        // The deque is empty now
        System.out.println("Final Deque: " + d);
    }
}

Output

Initial Deque: [C++, Java, Python]
Removed element using pop(): C++
Removed element using poll(): Java
Removed element using pollFirst(): Python
Final Deque: []

4.Iterating Elements

We can use various methods like iterator(), descendingIterator() to iterate over the elements of ArrayDeque.

Java

import java.util.*;
public class Geeks {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // Declaring and initializing an deque
        Deque<String> d = new ArrayDeque<String>();

        // Adding elements at the back using add() method
        d.add("For");

        // Adding element at the front using addFirst() method
        d.addFirst("Geeks");

        // add element at the last using addLast() method
        d.addLast("Geeks");
        d.add("is so good");

        // Iterate using Iterator interface from the front of the queue
        System.out.println("Iterating in ForwardOrder:");
        for (Iterator i = d.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {

            System.out.print(i.next() + " ");
        }

        System.out.println();

        // Iterate in reverse sequence in a queue
        System.out.println("Iterating in ReverseOrder:");
        for (Iterator i = d.descendingIterator();
             i.hasNext();) {

            System.out.print(i.next() + " ");
        }
    }
}

Output

Iterating in ForwardOrder:
Geeks For Geeks is so good 
Iterating in ReverseOrder:
is so good Geeks For Geeks

Methods in ArrayDeque class

Method	Description
add(Element e)	The method inserts a particular element at the end of the deque.
addAll(Collection<? extends E> c)	Adds all of the elements in the specified collection at the end of this deque, as if by calling addLast(E) on each one, in the order that they are returned by the collection's iterator.
addFirst(Element e)	The method inserts particular element at the start of the deque.
addLast(Element e)	The method inserts a particular element at the end of the deque. It is similar to the add() method
clear()	The method removes all deque elements.
clone()	The method copies the deque.
contains(Obj)	The method checks whether a deque contains the element or not
element()	The method returns element at the head of the deque
forEach(Consumer<? super E> action)	Performs the given action for each element of the Iterable until all elements have been processed or the action throws an exception.
getFirst()	The method returns first element of the deque
getLast()	The method returns last element of the deque
isEmpty()	The method checks whether the deque is empty or not.
iterator()	Returns an iterator over the elements in this deque.
offer(Element e)	The method inserts element at the end of deque.
offerFirst(Element e)	The method inserts element at the front of deque.
offerLast(Element e)	The method inserts element at the end of the deque.
peek()	The method returns head element without removing it.
poll()	The method returns head element and also removes it
pop()	The method pops out an element for stack represented by deque
push(Element e)	The method pushes an element onto stack represented by deque
remove()	The method returns head element and also removes it
remove(Object o)	Removes a single instance of the specified element from this deque.
removeAll(Collection<?> c)	Removes all of this collection's elements that are also contained in the specified collection (optional operation).
removeFirst()	The method returns the first element and also removes it
removeFirstOccurrence(Object o)	Removes the first occurrence of the specified element in this deque (when traversing the deque from head to tail).
removeIf(Predicate<? super Element> filter)	Removes all of the elements of this collection that satisfy the given predicate.
removeLast()	The method returns the last element and also removes it
removeLastOccurrence(Object o)	Removes the last occurrence of the specified element in this deque (when traversing the deque from head to tail).
size()	Returns the number of elements in this deque.
spliterator()	Creates a late-binding and fail-fast Spliterator over the elements in this deque.
toArray()	Returns an array containing all of the elements in this deque in proper sequence (from first to the last element).

Methods Declared in Interface java.util.Deque

Method	Action Performed
descendingIterator()	Returns an iterator over the elements in this deque in reverse sequential order.
peekFirst()	Retrieves, but does not remove, the first element of this deque or returns null if this deque is empty.
pollFirst()	Retrieves and removes the first element of this deque or returns null if this deque is empty.
pollLast()	Retrieves and removes the last element of this deque or returns null if this deque is empty.

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