In java to remove an element in an array can you set it to null?

Question

I am trying to make a remove method that works on an array implementation of a list. Can I set the the duplicate element to null to remove it? Assuming that the list is in order.

ArrayList a = new ArrayList[];

public void removeduplicates(){

    for(a[i].equals(a[i+1]){

        a[i+1] = null;

    }
    a[i+1] = a[i];
}

Answer 1

No you can't remove an element from an array, as in making it shorter. Java arrays are fixed-size. You need to use an ArrayList for that.

If you set an element to null, the array will still have the same size, but with a null reference at that point.

 // Let's say a = [0,1,2,3,4] (Integer[])
 a[2] = null;
 // Now a = [0,1,null,3,4]