Java tutorial
import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.HashSet; import java.util.List; import java.util.Set; public class Main { public static void main(String[] argv) { List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(); list.add("A"); list.add("2"); list.add("c2"); System.out.println(countDistinctElements(list, 0, list.size())); } static int countDistinctElements(List source, int position, int count) { List list = source.subList(position, position + count); Set set = new HashSet(); set.addAll(list); return set.size(); } }