Java Stream findFirst() Method

📘 Premium Read: Access my best content on Medium member-only articles — deep dives into Java, Spring Boot, Microservices, backend architecture, interview preparation, career advice, and industry-standard best practices.

🎓 Top 15 Udemy Courses (80-90% Discount): My Udemy Courses - Ramesh Fadatare — All my Udemy courses are real-time and project oriented courses.

▶️ Subscribe to My YouTube Channel (176K+ subscribers): Java Guides on YouTube

▶️ For AI, ChatGPT, Web, Tech, and Generative AI, subscribe to another channel: Ramesh Fadatare on YouTube

The findFirst() method in Java, part of the java.util.stream.Stream interface, is used to return an Optional describing the first element of the stream, or an empty Optional if the stream is empty. This method is particularly useful when the order of elements matters and you need to retrieve the first element in the encounter order.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. findFirst() Method Syntax
3. Understanding findFirst()
4. Examples
   • Basic Usage
   • Using findFirst() with Filtered Streams
5. Real-World Use Case
6. Conclusion

Introduction

The findFirst() method is a terminal operation that returns an Optional describing the first element of the stream, or an empty Optional if the stream is empty. This method is useful when you need to retrieve the first element of a stream, particularly in ordered streams.

findFirst() Method Syntax

The syntax for the findFirst() method is as follows:

Optional<T> findFirst() 

Parameters:

• This method does not take any parameters.

Returns:

• An Optional<T> describing the first element of the stream, or an empty Optional if the stream is empty.

Throws:

• This method does not throw any exceptions.

Understanding findFirst()

The findFirst() method allows you to retrieve the first element from the stream. This is particularly useful for ordered streams where the order of elements is significant. In parallel streams, findFirst() may be more costly compared to findAny() because it requires maintaining order.

Examples

Basic Usage

To demonstrate the basic usage of findFirst(), we will create a Stream and use findFirst() to retrieve the first element from the stream.

Example

import java.util.Optional; import java.util.stream.Stream; public class FindFirstExample { public static void main(String[] args) { Stream<String> stream = Stream.of("apple", "banana", "cherry"); // Use findFirst() to retrieve the first element from the stream Optional<String> firstElement = stream.findFirst(); // Print the element if present firstElement.ifPresent(System.out::println); } } 

Output:

apple 

Using findFirst() with Filtered Streams

This example shows how to use findFirst() in combination with filtering to retrieve the first element that matches a specific condition.

Example

import java.util.Optional; import java.util.stream.Stream; public class FindFirstWithFilterExample { public static void main(String[] args) { Stream<String> stream = Stream.of("apple", "banana", "cherry", "date", "elderberry"); // Filter elements that start with 'c' and use findFirst() to retrieve the first matching element Optional<String> firstElement = stream.filter(s -> s.startsWith("c")).findFirst(); // Print the element if present firstElement.ifPresent(System.out::println); } } 

Output:

cherry 

Real-World Use Case

Finding the First High-Priority Task

In real-world applications, the findFirst() method can be used to find the first high-priority task from a stream of tasks, ensuring that the first matching task is retrieved and processed.

Example

import java.util.Optional; import java.util.stream.Stream; public class FindFirstHighPriorityTaskExample { static class Task { String description; boolean highPriority; Task(String description, boolean highPriority) { this.description = description; this.highPriority = highPriority; } boolean isHighPriority() { return highPriority; } @Override public String toString() { return description; } } public static void main(String[] args) { Stream<Task> tasks = Stream.of( new Task("Task 1", false), new Task("Task 2", true), new Task("Task 3", true) ); // Use findFirst() to find the first high-priority task Optional<Task> firstHighPriorityTask = tasks.filter(Task::isHighPriority).findFirst(); // Print the high-priority task if present firstHighPriorityTask.ifPresent(task -> System.out.println("First high-priority task: " + task)); } } 

Output:

First high-priority task: Task 2 

Conclusion

The Stream.findFirst() method is used to return an Optional describing the first element of the stream, or an empty Optional if the stream is empty. This method is particularly useful for ordered streams where the order of elements matters. By understanding and using this method, you can efficiently manage and process streams of values in your Java applications, ensuring that the first matching element is retrieved when needed.