How to Get Last Element in Array in Java?

Last Updated : 24 Dec, 2024

In Java, to get the last element in an array, we can access the element at the index array.length - 1 using array indexing. The length property of the array provides its total size, and subtracting one from it gives the index of the last element.

Example 1: Here, we will access the last element in an Integer array.

Java

// Get the last element 
// in an integer array
public class Geeks {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
      
        // Declare and initialize an array
        int[] arr = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

        // Access the last element
        int l = arr[arr.length - 1];

        // Print the last element
        System.out.println("" + l); 
    }
}

Output

Syntax

arrayName[arrayName.length - 1];

arrayName: The name of the array.
length: The total number of elements in the array.
- 1: Subtracting one gives the index of the last element.

Example 2: Here, we will access the last element in an array of Strings.

Java

// Access the last element 
// in a String array
public class Geeks {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
      
        // Declare and initialize a string array
        String[] s = {"Cherry", "Strawberry", "Blueberry"};

        // Access the last element
        String l = s[s.length - 1];

        // Print the last element
        System.out.println("" + l); 
    }
}

Output

Blueberry

Example 3: If we try to access the last element of an empty array, it will throw an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.

Java

// Handling empty arrays
public class Geeks {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
      
        // Declare an empty array
        int[] arr = {};

        // Check if the array is empty
        if (arr.length > 0) {
            System.out.println("" + arr[arr.length - 1]);
        } else {
            System.out.println("The array is empty.");
        }
    }
}