Converting Iterable to Stream in Java 8 JDK

In Java 8, the Stream API provides a powerful and efficient way to manipulate data. However, not all collections in Java can be directly converted to streams. One such collection is the Iterable, which lacks the stream() method.

To bridge this gap, Java 8 offers a solution through the StreamSupport.stream() method. This method takes a Spliterator object as input and generates a stream from it. Fortunately, Iterable provides a spliterator() method that returns a corresponding Spliterator.

Using these methods, you can seamlessly convert an Iterable to a stream without the need for intermediate conversions to a list. The following code snippet demonstrates how to achieve this:

Iterable iterable = getIterable();
Stream stream = StreamSupport.stream(iterable.spliterator(), false);

The stream variable now holds a stream that can be manipulated using the rich set of operations provided by the Stream API. This approach offers the benefits of the Java 8 Stream API while leveraging the underlying Iterable without the overhead of creating a new collection.