This example show you how to convert Java collections object into JSON string. For Student class use in this example you can find it the previous example on How do I convert object into JSON?.

package org.kodejava.example.google.gson;

import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.google.gson.reflect.TypeToken;

import java.lang.reflect.Type;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.List;

public class CollectionToJson {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        //
        // Converts a collection of string object into JSON string.
        //
        List<String> names = new ArrayList<String>();
        names.add("Alice");
        names.add("Bob");
        names.add("Carol");
        names.add("Mallory");

        Gson gson = new Gson();
        String jsonNames = gson.toJson(names);
        System.out.println("jsonNames = " + jsonNames);

        //
        // Converts a collection Student object into JSON string
        //
        Student a = new Student("Alice", "Apple St", getDOB(2000, 10, 1));
        Student b = new Student("Bob", "Banana St", null);
        Student c = new Student("Carol", "Grape St", getDOB(2000, 5, 21));
        Student d = new Student("Mallory", "Mango St", null);

        List<Student> students = new ArrayList<Student>();
        students.add(a);
        students.add(b);
        students.add(c);
        students.add(d);

        gson = new Gson();
        String jsonStudents = gson.toJson(students);
        System.out.println("jsonStudents = " + jsonStudents);

        //
        // Converts JSON string into a collection of Student object.
        //
        Type type = new TypeToken<List<Student>>() {
        }.getType();
        List<Student> studentList = gson.fromJson(jsonStudents, type);

        for (Student student : studentList) {
            System.out.println("student.getName() = " + student.getName());
        }
    }

    private static Date getDOB(int year, int month, int date) {
        Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance();
        calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, year);
        calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, month - 1);
        calendar.set(Calendar.DATE, date);
        calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR, 0);
        calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, 0);
        calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, 0);
        return calendar.getTime();
    }
}

Here is the result of our program:

jsonNames = ["Alice","Bob","Carol","Mallory"]
jsonStudents = [{"name":"Alice","address":"Apple St","dateOfBirth":"Nov 1, 3900 12:00:00 AM"},{"name":"Bob","address":"Banana St"},{"name":"Carol","address":"Grape St","dateOfBirth":"Jun 21, 3900 12:00:00 AM"},{"name":"Mallory","address":"Mango St"}]
student.getName() = Alice
student.getName() = Bob
student.getName() = Carol
student.getName() = Mallory

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.google.code.gson</groupId>
    <artifactId>gson</artifactId>
    <version>2.2.2</version>
</dependency>