Arrays in Java are a poor choice of container when resizing is necessary, but this is one way to do it. Simply set any array element to null where it needs to be removed. Alternatively, pass an array of indexes of elements you want to remove. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who can remove the kludgy type-checking before a possible exception is thrown. Code is HERE

import java.lang.reflect.Array;


public class CompactArray<T> {
    /**
     * Just for demo
     *
     * @param args The command line args
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Integer[] a1 = { 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 8 };
        // Show original
        System.out.println(java.util.Arrays.toString(a1));
        // Delete the element '5'
        a1[2] = null;
        a1 = (Integer[]) CompactArray.compact(a1);
        System.out.println(java.util.Arrays.toString(a1));

        Integer[] a2 = { 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 8 };
        // Remove first three elements
        a2 = (Integer[]) CompactArray.compact(a2, new int[] { 0, 1, 2 });
        System.out.println(java.util.Arrays.toString(a2));
    }

    /**
     * Compact an array, removing elements
     * whose indexes are listed in an
     * array of indexes
     *
     * @param original The array to be compacted
     * @param removals The indexes of the elements to remove
     *
     * @return The compacted array
     */
    public static <T> T[] compact(T[] original, int[] removals) {
        T[] result = (T[]) Array.newInstance(original[0].getClass(),
                original.length - removals.length);

        int ixRemovals = 0;
        int ixResult = 0;

        for (int i = 0; i < original.length; i++) {
            if ((ixRemovals < removals.length) && (i == removals[ixRemovals])) {
                ixRemovals++;
            } else {
                result[ixResult++] = original[i];
            }
        }

        return result;
    }

    /**
     * Compact an array, 'removing' any element that
     * is null
     *
     * @param original The array to be compacted
     *
     * @return The compacted array
     */
    public static <T> T[] compact(T[] original) {
        T[] result = null;
        int ix = 0;

        for (int i = 0; i < original.length; i++) {
            if (original[i] != null) {
                original[ix++] = original[i];
            }
        }

        if (ix != original.length) {
            int i;

            for (i = 0; (i < original.length) && (original[i] == null); i++) {
            }

            if (i == original.length) {
                throw new RuntimeException(
                    "All elements null. Cannot determine element type");
            }

            result = (T[]) Array.newInstance(original[i].getClass(), ix);
            System.arraycopy(original, 0, result, 0, result.length);
        }

        return result;
    }
}