Convert List to JSON Array Using Jackson

In this quick article, I will show how to convert a List to JSON array using Jackson.

Check out complete Jackson tutorial at Java Jackson JSON Tutorial with Examples.

We are using Jackson library to convert Java List to JSON array so let's add below Jackson dependency to your project's classpath or pom.xml.

Maven pom dependency

Let’s first add the following dependencies to the pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
    <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
    <version>2.9.8</version>
</dependency>

This dependency will also transitively add the following libraries to the classpath:

• jackson-annotations-2.9.8.jar
• jackson-core-2.9.8.jar
• jackson-databind-2.9.8.jar

Always use the latest versions on the Maven central repository for Jackson databind.

Example - Convert List to JSON Array Using Jackson 

The following example shows how to convert List object to JSON array using the ObjectMapper.writeValueAsString() method.

JacksonListToJson.java

package net.javaguides.jackson;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializationFeature;

/**
 * Using Jackson API for list serialization and deserialization
 * @author ramesh fadatare
 *
 */
public class JacksonListToJson {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonProcessingException {

        // Create ObjectMapper object.
        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
        mapper.enable(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT);

        List < String > progLangs = new ArrayList < > ();
        progLangs.add("C");
        progLangs.add("C++");
        progLangs.add("Java");
        progLangs.add("Java EE");
        progLangs.add("Python");
        progLangs.add("Scala");
        progLangs.add("JavaScript");
        // Serialize Object to JSON.
        String json = mapper.writeValueAsString(progLangs);

        // Print json
        System.out.println(json);
    }
}

Output:

[ "C", "C++", "Java", "Java EE", "Python", "Scala", "JavaScript" ]

Related Jackson JSON Examples

• Jackson - Convert Java Object to/from JSON Example  (popular)

• Jackson - List, Set, and Map Serialization and Deserialization in Java Examples

• Change Field Name in JSON using Jackson  (popular)

• How to Read / Write JSON Using Jackson JsonParser and JsonGenerator

• Jackson - Enable Pretty Print JSON Output  (popular)

• Jackson @JsonPropertyOrder Example

• Jackson - Ignore Fields or Properties on Serialization

• Jackson @JsonIgnore, @JsonIgnoreProperties and @JsonIgnoreType  (popular)

• Jackson Ignore Null and Empty Fields on Serialization  (popular)

• Jackson @JsonInclude Example

• ObjectMapper - Java to JSON

• ObjectMapper - JSON to Java Object