List<E> constructor Null safety

Creates a list of the given length.

This constructor will throw an exception if E is not a nullable type. In this case, another constructor such as List.filled must be used instead.

The created list is fixed-length if length is provided.

List fixedLengthList = new List(3);
fixedLengthList.length;     // 3
fixedLengthList.length = 1; // Error

The list has length 0 and is growable if length is omitted.

List growableList = [];
growableList.length; // 0;
growableList.length = 3;

To create a growable list with a given length, for a nullable element type, just assign the length right after creation:

List growableList = []..length = 500;

For a non-nullable element type, an alternative is the following:

List<int> growableList = List<int>.filled(500, 0, growable: true);

The length must not be negative or null, if it is provided.

If the element type is not nullable, length must not be greater than zero.

This constructor cannot be used in null-safe code. Use List.filled to create a non-empty list. This requires a fill value to initialize the list elements with. To create an empty list, use [] for a growable list or List.empty for a fixed length list (or where growability is determined at run-time).