public static ArrayList<String> jsonArrayStringToArrayList(String jsonString){
  String modString=jsonString.replaceFirst("\\[","");
  modString=modString.replaceFirst("\\]","");
  modString=modString.replaceAll("\"","");
  String[] elements=modString.split("\\s*,\\s*");
  return new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(elements));
}

public static ArrayList < String > jsonArrayStringToArrayList ( String jsonString ) { String modString = jsonString . replaceFirst ( "\\[" , "" ) ; modString = modString . replaceFirst ( "\\]" , "" ) ; modString = modString . replaceAll ( "\"" , "" ) ; String [ ] elements = modString . split ( "\\s*,\\s*" ) ; return new ArrayList < > ( Arrays . asList ( elements ) ) ; }
method to take an input json array format string and output an arraylist
