Kotlin List - get() Function

The Kotlin List get() function is used to display the element from the list at the specified index. It throws an exception " IndexOutOfBoundsException" if the specified index is not in the range.

Get the more about the get() function for array, visit here

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the Kotlin list get() function −

fun <K, V> Map<K, V>.get(key: K): V?

Parameters

This function accepts an integer as parameter, which represents the index value of a list.

Return value

This function returns an element from the list.

Example 1: Get the Index Value

Let's see a basic example of the get() function, which return element of the given index −

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
   val fruits = listOf("Apple", "Banana", "Cherry", "Date")
   
   // Get the element at index 2
   val fruit = fruits.get(2)
   println("Fruit at index 2: $fruit")
   
   // Equivalent using square brackets
   println("Fruit at index 3: ${fruits[3]}")    
}

Output

Following is the output −

Fruit at index 2: Cherry
Fruit at index 3: Date

Example 2: Invalid Index

In the following example, we pass the invalid index tothe get()function. If the index is invalid, then the function returns an exception −

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
   val fruits = listOf("Apple", "Banana", "Cherry", "Date")
   // Attempting to access an invalid index
   try {
      val invalidFruit = fruits.get(5)
   } catch (e: IndexOutOfBoundsException) {
      println("Error: ${e.message}")
   } 
}

Output

Following is the output −

Error: Index 5 out of bounds for length 4

Example 3: Accessing Every Nth Element Dynamically

In this example, we have a list of names and iterate through each second element of the list to display every second element of the list dynamically, we also take the user index to display the element −

fun main(args: Array<String>) {
   val names = listOf("Aman", "Kumar", "Vivek", "Dipak", "Rohan", "Sohan")
   
   // Access every 2nd element
   for (i in names.indices step 2) {
      println("Element at index $i: ${names.get(i)}")
   }

   // Access an element using a user-provided index
   val userIndex = 3
   if (userIndex in names.indices) {
      println("Element at user-provided index $userIndex: ${names.get(userIndex)}")
   } else {
      println("Index $userIndex is out of bounds!")
   }
}

Output

Following is the output −

Element at index 0: Aman
Element at index 2: Vivek
Element at index 4: Rohan
Element at user-provided index 3: Dipak