Which method is used to limit the number of elements in a stream?

The limit() method in the Stream API is used to limit the number of elements in a stream to a specified maximum size. This method is particularly useful when you want to process only a subset of elements from a larger stream, such as selecting the first 10 elements from a list of 100 items. The limit() method takes a single argument, which specifies the maximum number of elements to include in the resulting stream. For example, limit(5) will create a stream containing only the first five elements of the original stream.

Using the limit() method can be helpful in scenarios where you need to control the size of the output or when working with large datasets that you want to sample or truncate. The limit() method is often used in combination with other stream operations, such as sorted() or filter(), to create a pipeline that processes only a specific portion of the data. For example, you can use sorted() followed by limit(3) to obtain the top three elements in a stream.

The limit() method is an intermediate operation, meaning it creates a new stream that can be further processed by other operations. The final result is produced when a terminal operation, such as collect() or forEach(), is invoked. The limit() method is a powerful tool for controlling the size of a stream and ensuring that only the desired number of elements are processed.