Parallel Streams vs Regular Streams in Java 8: A Complete Guide

source: geeksforgeeks.org

Java 8 brought many new features to make coding easier and faster. One of the most useful features is Streams. Streams help us work with collections of data in a clean and simple way. But Java 8 also gave us something special called Parallel Streams.

In this article, we will learn what regular streams are, what parallel streams are, and how they are different from each other. We will also see many examples to understand when to use each one.

What Are Streams in Java 8?

Before we talk about parallel streams, let’s understand what regular streams are.

A stream is like a pipe that carries data from one place to another. You can think of it like a water pipe, but instead of water, it carries data. Streams help us process collections like lists, sets, and arrays in a better way.

Here’s a simple example:

import java.util.*;
import java.util.stream.*;

public class StreamExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        List<Integer> numbers = Arrays.asList(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10);
        
        // Using regular stream to find even numbers
        List<Integer> evenNumbers = numbers.stream()
            .filter(n -> n % 2 == 0)
            .collect(Collectors.toList())…