Java LinkedList removeLastOccurrence() method
Syntax and Examples

Introduction

The removeLastOccurrence() method in Java's LinkedList class provides a convenient way to remove the last occurrence of a specified element from the list. It searches through the entire list and removes only the *last* instance of the element you provide, leaving earlier occurrences untouched.

Syntax

public boolean removeLastOccurrence(Object o)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
o	The element to be removed from the list. If the list does not contain the specified element, this method returns false.

Return Value

This method returns true if the element was found and removed successfully. It returns false if the list does not contain the specified element.

Examples

Example 1: Removing a Single Occurrence

This example demonstrates removing the last occurrence of an integer '5' from a LinkedList.

import java.util.LinkedList; 

public class RemoveLastOccurrenceExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        LinkedList<Integer> list = new LinkedList<>();
        list.add(1);
        list.add(2);
        list.add(5);
        list.add(3);
        list.add(5);

        System.out.println("Original List: " + list);

        boolean removed = list.removeLastOccurrence(5);

        System.out.println("List after removing last occurrence of 5: " + list);
        System.out.println("Was the element removed? " + removed);
    }
}

Original List: [1, 2, 5, 3, 5]
List after removing last occurrence of 5: [1, 2, 5, 3]
Was the element removed? true

In this example, only the second '5' is removed from the list. The first '5' remains.

Example 2: Element Not Present

This example shows what happens when you try to remove an element that isn't in the LinkedList.

import java.util.LinkedList; 

public class RemoveLastOccurrenceNotFoundExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        LinkedList<String> list = new LinkedList<>();
        list.add("apple");
        list.add("banana");
        list.add("cherry");

        System.out.println("Original List: " + list);

        boolean removed = list.removeLastOccurrence("grape");

        System.out.println("List after attempting to remove 'grape': " + list);
        System.out.println("Was the element removed? " + removed); // Output will be false
    }
}

Original List: [apple, banana, cherry]
List after attempting to remove 'grape': [apple, banana, cherry]
Was the element removed? false

Since “grape” isn't in the list, removeLastOccurrence() returns false and the list remains unchanged.

Example 3: Removing from a List of Strings

This example illustrates removing the last occurrence of a string element from a LinkedList containing strings.

import java.util.LinkedList; 

public class RemoveLastOccurrenceStringExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        LinkedList<String> list = new LinkedList<>();
        list.add("red");
        list.add("green");
        list.add("blue");
        list.add("green");

        System.out.println("Original List: " + list);

        boolean removed = list.removeLastOccurrence("green");

        System.out.println("List after removing last occurrence of 'green': " + list);
        System.out.println("Was the element removed? " + removed);
    }
}

Original List: [red, green, blue, green]
List after removing last occurrence of 'green': [red, green, blue]
Was the element removed? true

Only the second “green” is removed. The first remains.

Example 4: Empty List

This example demonstrates behavior when calling removeLastOccurrence on an empty list.

import java.util.LinkedList;

public class RemoveLastOccurrenceEmptyList {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        LinkedList list = new LinkedList<>();

        System.out.println("Original List: " + list);

        boolean removed = list.removeLastOccurrence(10); // Try to remove 10 from an empty list

        System.out.println("List after attempting to remove 10 (empty): " + list);
        System.out.println("Was the element removed? " + removed);
    }
}

Original List: []
List after attempting to remove 10 (empty): []
Was the element removed? false

As expected, the list remains empty and the method returns false since there's nothing to remove.