How to create a Range, List, or Array of numbers in Scala

Scala FAQ: How can I create a range, list, or array of numbers in Scala, such as in a for loop, or for testing purposes?

Solution

Use the to method of the Int class to create a Range with the desired elements:

scala> val r = 1 to 10
r: scala.collection.immutable.Range.Inclusive = Range(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

You can also set the step with the by method:

scala> val r = 1 to 10 by 2
r: scala.collection.immutable.Range = Range(1, 3, 5, 7, 9)

scala> val r = 1 to 10 by 3
r: scala.collection.immutable.Range = Range(1, 4, 7, 10)

Note that ranges are commonly used in for loops:

scala> for (i <- 1 to 5) println(i)
1
2
3
4
5

When creating a Range, you can also use until instead of to:

scala> for (i <- 1 until 5) println(i)
1
2
3
4

Discussion

Scala makes it easy to create a range of numbers. The first three examples shown in the Solution create a Range. You can easily convert a Range to other sequences, such as an Array or List, like this:

scala> val x = 1 to 10 toArray
x: Array[Int] = Array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

scala> val x = 1 to 10 toList
x: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

Although this infix notation syntax is clear in many situations (such as for loops), it’s generally preferable to use this syntax:

scala> val x = (1 to 10).toList
x: List[Int] = List(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

scala> val x = (1 to 10).toArray
x: Array[Int] = Array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

The magic that makes this process work is the to and until methods, which you’ll find in the RichInt class. When you type the following portion of the code, you’re actually invoking the to method of the RichInt class:

1 to

You can demonstrate that to is a method on an Int by using this syntax in the REPL:

1.to(10)

Although the infix notation (1 to 10) shown in most of these examples can make your code more readable, Rahul Phulore has a post on Stack Overflow where he advises against using it for anything other than internal DSLs.

Combine this with Recipe 2.7 of the Scala Cookbook, “Generating Random Numbers,” and you can create a random length range, which can be useful for testing:

scala> var range = 0 to scala.util.Random.nextInt(10)
range: scala.collection.immutable.Range.Inclusive = Range(0, 1, 2, 3)

By using a range with the for/yield construct, you don’t have to limit your ranges to sequential numbers:

scala> for (i <- 1 to 5) yield i * 2
res0: scala.collection.immutable.IndexedSeq[Int] = Vector(2, 4, 6, 8, 10)

You also don’t have to limit your ranges to just integers:

scala> for (i <- 1 to 5) yield i.toDouble
res1: scala.collection.immutable.IndexedSeq[Double] =
       Vector(1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0)

See Also

• The Scala RichInt class