Java Stream Matching
last modified May 25, 2025
This article demonstrates how to use Java Stream's matching operations: anyMatch, allMatch, and noneMatch for condition checking in streams.
Stream matching operations are terminal operations that check if elements in a stream satisfy certain conditions. They return a boolean value and are short-circuiting (may terminate early without processing all elements).
Basic matching operations
The three matching methods have similar signatures:
boolean anyMatch(Predicate<? super T> predicate) boolean allMatch(Predicate<? super T> predicate) boolean noneMatch(Predicate<? super T> predicate)
anyMatch returns true if any element matches the predicate.
allMatch returns true if all elements match. noneMatch
returns true if no elements match.
anyMatch - Checking for existence
The next exampe uses anyMatch to check if any element satisfies a
condition.
void main() {
List<Integer> numbers = List.of(2, 4, 6, 8, 10);
boolean hasEven = numbers.stream().anyMatch(n -> n % 2 == 0);
System.out.println("Contains even numbers? " + hasEven);
boolean hasOdd = numbers.stream().anyMatch(n -> n % 2 != 0);
System.out.println("Contains odd numbers? " + hasOdd);
}
This example checks if the list contains any even numbers (all in this case) and
any odd numbers (none in this case). anyMatch stops processing
after finding the first match.
$ java Main.java Contains even numbers? true Contains odd numbers? false
allMatch - Universal condition
We can use allMatch to verify if all elements meet a condition.
void main() {
List<String> words = List.of("apple", "banana", "avocado", "apricot");
boolean allStartWithA = words.stream().allMatch(s -> s.startsWith("a"));
System.out.println("All words start with 'a'? " + allStartWithA);
boolean allLongerThan3 = words.stream().allMatch(s -> s.length() > 3);
System.out.println("All words longer than 3 chars? " + allLongerThan3);
}
This example checks if all words start with 'a' (false) and if all words are
longer than 3 characters (true). allMatch stops processing after
finding the first non-matching element.
$ java Main.java All words start with 'a'? false All words longer than 3 chars? true
noneMatch - Absence verification
We can use noneMatch to ensure no elements satisfy a condition.
void main() {
List<Integer> temperatures = List.of(22, 24, 19, 21, 25);
boolean noneBelowZero = temperatures.stream().noneMatch(t -> t < 0);
System.out.println("No temperatures below zero? " + noneBelowZero);
boolean noneAbove30 = temperatures.stream().noneMatch(t -> t > 30);
System.out.println("No temperatures above 30? " + noneAbove30);
}
This example verifies that no temperatures are below zero (true) and none are
above 30 (true). noneMatch stops processing after finding the first
matching element.
$ java Main.java No temperatures below zero? true No temperatures above 30? true
Empty stream behavior
The next example shows how matching operations behave with empty streams.
void main() {
List<String> emptyList = List.of();
boolean any = emptyList.stream().anyMatch(s -> true);
boolean all = emptyList.stream().allMatch(s -> false);
boolean none = emptyList.stream().noneMatch(s -> true);
System.out.println("anyMatch: " + any);
System.out.println("allMatch: " + all);
System.out.println("noneMatch: " + none);
}
This example demonstrates the behavior with empty streams: anyMatch
returns false, allMatch returns true (vacuously true), and
noneMatch returns true.
$ java Main.java anyMatch: false allMatch: true noneMatch: true
Complex object matching
The next example demonstrates matching operations on a list of custom objects, using a record class to represent products.
record Product(String name, double price, boolean inStock) {}
void main() {
List<Product> inventory = List.of(
new Product("Laptop", 999.99, true),
new Product("Phone", 699.99, false),
new Product("Tablet", 349.99, true)
);
boolean anyExpensive = inventory.stream()
.anyMatch(p -> p.price() > 800);
System.out.println("Any expensive products? " + anyExpensive);
boolean allInStock = inventory.stream()
.allMatch(Product::inStock);
System.out.println("All products in stock? " + allInStock);
boolean noneFree = inventory.stream()
.noneMatch(p -> p.price() == 0);
System.out.println("No free products? " + noneFree);
}
This example checks various conditions on a list of Product objects, demonstrating how matching operations work with complex predicates on object properties.
$ java Main.java Any expensive products? true All products in stock? false No free products? true
Short-circuiting behavior
The next example demonstrates the short-circuiting nature of matching operations.
void main() {
boolean result = IntStream.range(1, 1000)
.peek(n -> System.out.println("Processing: " + n))
.anyMatch(n -> n % 42 == 0);
System.out.println("Found multiple of 42? " + result);
}
This example shows how anyMatch stops processing after finding the
first multiple of 42. The peek operation reveals which numbers are actually
processed.
$ java Main.java Processing: 1 Processing: 2 ... Processing: 42 Found multiple of 42? true
Combining with other operations
The next example combines matching operations with other stream operations to demonstrate their flexibility.
void main() {
List<String> mixed = List.of("1", "2", "three", "4", "five");
boolean allNumeric = mixed.stream()
.map(s -> {
System.out.println("Mapping: " + s);
return s;
})
.filter(s -> s.length() == 1)
.allMatch(s -> Character.isDigit(s.charAt(0)));
System.out.println("All single chars are digits? " + allNumeric);
}
This example checks if all single-character strings are digits, demonstrating how matching operations work with transformed streams. Note the processing order.
$ java Main.java Mapping: 1 Mapping: 2 Mapping: three Mapping: 4 Mapping: five All single chars are digits? true
Source
Java Stream matching documentation
In this article we have explored Java Stream's matching operations. anyMatch, allMatch, and noneMatch provide powerful ways to check conditions on stream elements with efficient short-circuiting behavior. These operations are essential for writing concise and efficient stream-based condition checks.
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