How are Kotlin Array's toList and asList different?

M. Palsich :

The Kotlin Array class offers asList(), toList(), and toMutableList() methods. The first two methods both return a List and are described in the Kotlin reference as follows:

asList() returns a List that wraps the original Array.
toList() returns a List containing all elements [of the original Array].

These methods appear interchangeable. How do these two methods differ in practice?

s1m0nw1 :

TL;DR

The list created with asList keeps a reference to the original Array.
The list created with toList/toMutableList is backed by a copy of the original Array.

Explanation

asList

The asList function creates a list that reuses the same Array instance, which implies that changes to the original array also have impact on the List:

val arr = arrayOf(1, 2, 3)
val l1 = arr.asList()

arr[0] = 4
println(l1) // [4, 2, 3]

toList

This isn't the case for toList/toMutableList since the array is copied:

val arr = arrayOf(1, 2, 3)
val l2 = arr.toList()

arr[0] = 4
println(l2) // [1, 2, 3]

The Kotlin source code can be found here.

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edited at2020-04-8

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