Get a list of a player's non-null inventory items?

Hi guys.

As the title says, is there a good way to get a list of a player's non-null inventory items? I would normally do something like:

Code:

ItemStack[] inventory = player.getInventory().getContents();
ArrayList<ItemStack> items = new ArrayList<ItemStack>();
for(ItemStack i : inventory){
    if(i != null)
        items.add(i);
}

However, I will be doing this multiple times, and it seems kind of wasteful having to loop through the entire inventory every single time. Is there a better way to do this?

 

create a method in your class such as this one and call it when you need to

Code:java

public List<ItemStack> getContents(Player player) {
List<ItemStack> stack = new ArrayList<ItemStack>();
for (ItemStack i : player.getInventory().getContents()) {
    if (i != null) {
          stack.add(i);
    }
}
return stacks;
}

 

Yeah, but you still have to iterate through the entire inventory whenever you call the method. I guess my main question is; is there a better way to do it without going through the whole inventory every single time?