Collections

Q1. What are limitations of object Arrays?

The main limitations of Object arrays are

These are fixed in size ie once we created an array object there is no chance of
increasing or decreasing size based on our requirement. Hence If we dont
know size in advance , arrays are not recommended to use

Arrays can hold only homogeneous elements.

There is no underlying data structure for arrays and hence no readymade

method support for arrays. Hence for every requirement programmer has to
code explicitly

To over come these problems collections are recommended to use

Q2. What are differences between arrays and collections?
Collections
Arrays
1. Arrays r fixed in size and hence once we
created an array we are not allowed to increase
or decrease the size based on our requirement.

1. Collections are growable in nature and hence

based on our requirement we can increase or
decrease the size.

2. Memory point of view arrays are not

recommended to use

2. Memory point of view collections are

recommended to use.

3. Performance point of view arrays are

recommended to use

3. Performance point of view collections are not

recommended to use.

4. Arrays can hold only homogeneous elements 4. Collections can hold both homogeneous and
heterogeneous elements.
5. Arrays can hold both primitives as well as
objects

5. Collections can hold only objects.

6. For any requirement, there is no ready method 6. For every requirement ready made method
support compulsory programmer has to code
support is available. Being a programmer we
explicitly.
have to know how to use those methods and we
are not responsible to implement those.

Q3. what are differences between arrays and ArrayList?

Refer the answer of Q2
Q4. What are differences between arrays and Vector?
Refer the answer of Q2

Q5. What is Collection API ?

It defines set of classes and interfaces which can be used for representing a group of
objects as single entity
Q6. What is Collection framework?
It defines set of classes and inter faces which can be used for representing a group of
objects as single entity
Q7. What is difference between Collections and Collection?
Collection is an interface which can be used for representing a group of individual
objects as single entity and it acts as root interface of collection frame work.
Collections is an utility class to define several utility methods for Collection
implemented class objects.
Q8. Explain about Collection interface?

This interface can be used to represent a group of objects as a single entity.

It acts as root interface for entire collection framework.

It defines the most commonly used methods which can be applicable for any
collection implemented class object

Q9. Explain about List interface?

List interface is a child interface of Collection interface. This can be used to represent
group of individual objects in as a single entity where

Duplicates are allowed

Insertion order is preserved

Q10. Explain about Set interface?

Set is a child interface of Collection interface. it can be used to represent a group of
individual objects as a single entity where

Duplicate objects are not allowed.

Insertion order is not preserved

Q11. Explain about SortedSet interface?

it is child interface of Set interface. it can be used to represent a group of individual
objects in to a single entity where

All the objects are arranged in some sorting order (Can be natural sorting
order or customizede).

Duplicates are not allowed.

Q12. Explain about NavigableSet ?

It is child interface of SortedSet and provides several utility methods for navigation
purposes

It doesnt allows duplicates

Insertion order is preserved

It is introduced in 1.6 version

Q13. Explain about Queue interface?

If we want to represent a group of individual objects prior to processing, then we
should go for Queue interface. It is child interface of Collection interface.
It has introduced in 1.5 version.
Q14. Explain about Map interface?
Remember it is not a child Interface of Collection Interface and hence Map and
Collection Interfaces doesnt have any relationship.

It can be used for representing a group of Objects as key, value pairs.

Both keys and values should be objects

Keys can t be duplicated but values can be duplicated.

it has introduced in 1.2 version

Q15. Explain about SortedMap ?

If we want to represent a group of objects as key value pairs where all the
entries are arranged according some sorting order of keys then we should go
for SortedMap.

It is child interface of Map.

It has introduced in 1.2 version

Q16. Explain about NavigableMap?

It is child interface of SortedMap and defines several method for navigation

purpose

It is introduced in 1.6 version

Q17. Explain about ArrayList class?

ArrayList is a Collection which can be used to represent a group of objects as a single
entity.

it is a implemented class for List interface

Introduced in 1.2 version

The underlying data structure is resizable or growable array.

Insertion order is preserved

Duplicates are allowed

Heterogeneous objects are allowed

null insertion is possible

This class implements RandomAccess , Serializable , Cloneable interfaces

Best choice for retrieval purpose and worst if our frequent operation is
insertion or deletion in the middle

Q18. What is RandomAccess Interface?

If a collection class implements RandomAccess interface then we can access

any of its element with the same speed.

RandomAccess interface is marker interface and it dosent contains any

methods.

ArrayList and vector classes implements this interface.

Q19. Explain about LinkedList class?

LinkedList is a Collection implemented class which can be used for representing a
group of objects as a single entity.

LinkedList is the implemetation class for List interface

Introduced in 1.2 version

Underlying data Structure is DoubleLinkedList

Allows duplicates

Insertion order is preserved

Allows heterogeneous objects

null insertion is possible

LinkedList class implements Seriallizable and Cloneable interface but not

RandomAccess interface

Best choice if frequent operation is insertion or deletion an objects in middle

but worst choice if frequent operation is retrieval.

Q20. Explain about Vector class?

Vector is a legacy collection class which can be used to represent a group of
objects.

Introduced in 1.0 version. it is legacy class

The underlying data structure is resizable or growable array.

Insertion order is preserved

Duplicates are allowed

Heterogeneous objects are allowed

It is a implemented class for List interface

null insertion is possible

Vector class implements RandomAccess ,Serializable,Cloneable interfaces

Best Choice if frequent operation is retrieval and worst choice if frequent

operation is insertion or deletion in the middle.

All methods present in Vector class are synchronized hence Vector class object
is thread safe.

Q21. What is difference between ArrayList and Vector?

Vector
ArrayList
1. No method is synchronized in the ArrayList
class

1. All methods in Vector are synchronized.

2. ArrayList object is not thread safe.

2. Vector is thread safe.

3. Relatively performance is high

3. Relatively performance is low

4. Introduced in 1.2 version and it is non legacy 4. Introduced in 1.0 version and it is legacy

Q22. How we can get synchronized version of ArrayList?

Collections class contains synchronizedList() method for this
Public static List synchronizedList(List l)
EX
ArrayList l= new ArrayList();
List l2=Collections.synchronizedList(l);
Similarly we can get synchronized versions of Set and Map objects by the following
methods.
Public static List synchronizedSet(Set s)
Public static List synchronizedMap(Map m)
Q23. What is difference between size and capacity of a Collection Object?
size means number of objects present where as capacity means no of objects it can
accommodate.
Q24. What is difference between ArrayList and Linked List?
ArrayList
1. The underlying data structure is resizable or
growable array.

LinkedList
1. The underlying data structure is Double
Linked List.

2. This is Best choice if frequent operation is

2. This is Best choice if frequent operation is
retrieval and worst choice if frequent operation is insertion or deletion in the middle and worst
insertion or deletion in the middle.
choice if frequent operation is retrieval .
3. This class implements Serializable , Cloneable 3. This class implements Serializable , Cloneable
and RandomAccess interfaces.
but not RandomAccess interface.
Q25. What are legacy classes and interfaces present in Collections framework ?

Enumeration ---Interface

Dictonary ------Abstract class

Hashtable -----Concrete class

Properties -----Concrete class

Vector -----Concrete class

Stack -----Concrete class

Q26. what is difference Enumeration and Iterator?

Enumeration
1. It is legacy interface and introduced in 1.0
version
2Applicable only for legacy classes and it is not
universal cursor
3While iterating the elements we are not allowed
to remove the objects just we can perform only
read operation
4By using elements() method we can get
Enumeration object

Iterator
1 It is non-legacy and introduced in 1.2 version
2Applicable for any Collection implemented
class object.
3While iterating we can perform removal also in
addition to read operation.
4. By using iterator() method we can get
Iterator
object

Q27. What are limitations of Enumeration?

While iterating the elements we are not allowed to perform removal operation

It is applicable only for legacy classes and it is not a universal cursor.

It can retrieve the elements only in forward direction

Q28. What is difference between enum and Enumeration?

An enum can be used to define a group of named constants .It has introduced in 1.5
version
Ex
Class Beer{
KO,KF,RC,FO
}
Enumeration is cursor to retrieve Objects one by one from Collection objects.
Q29. What is difference between Iterator and ListIterator?
o

ListIterator is the child interface of the Iterator

Iterator is the single direction cursor where as ListIterator is

bidirectional cursor.

While iterating the elements by Iterator we can perform only read and
remove operations. But by using ListIterator we can perform
read,removal, replace and addition of new objects also.

Iterator is applicable for every Collecton implemented class object but

ListIterator is applicable only for List implemented class objects.

Iterator can be get by using iterator() of Collection interface where as

ListIterator can be get by using listIterator() method of List interface

both are introduced in 1.2 version

Q30. What is relation between ListIterator and Iterator?

ListIterator is child interface of Iterator
Q31. Explain about HashSet class?

The underlying data structure is Hashtable

null values are accepted

duplicates are not allowed

insertion order is based on hashcode of the object hence insertion order is not
preserved

best suitable if frequent operation is search operations

HashSet class implements Serializable and Cloneable

it is implementation class for Set interface

heterogeneous objects are allowed

it is introduced in 1.2 version

Q32. If we are trying to insert duplicate values in Set what will happen?
If we are trying to insert duplicate objects to the HashSet , we wont get any compile
time or run time errors just the add(Object o) returns false and it doesnt add that
object.
Q33. What is LinkedHashSet?
It is the child class of HashSet. The main difference between HashSet and
LinkedHashSet is:
In the case of HashSet insertion order is not preserved , but in the case of
LinkedHashSet insertion will be preserved.

Q34. Differences between HashSet and LinkedHashSet?

HashSet
1The Underlying datastructure is Hashtable

LinkedHashSet

2Insertion Order is not preserved

1The underlying datastructure is combination of

LinkedList and Hashtable
2 Insertion order is preserved.

3Introduced in 1.2 version

Introduced in 1.4 version

Q35. What are major enhancements in 1.4 version of collection frame work?
LinkedHashSet
LinkedHashMap
IdentityHashMap

Q36. Explain about TreeSet?

It is Collection object which can be used to represent a group of objects according to
some sorting order.

The underlying datastructure is Balanced tree

Duplicates are not allowed

All objects are stored according to some sorting order hence insertion order is
not preserved

Heterogeneous objects are not allowed violation leads to ClassCastException

For an Empty TreeSet as firs element null value can be inserted but after
inserting that first value if we are trying to insert any other objects then we
will get NullPointerException

For an non empty TreeSet if we are trying to inser null value at run time u will
get NullPointerException

Q37. What are differences between List and Set interfaces?

List

Set

1Insertion Order is preserved

2Duplicate Objects are allowed

1Insertion Order is not preserved

2 Duplicate Objects are not allowed

3The implemented classes are

3 The implemented classes are HashSet,
ArrayList,LinkedList , Vector and Stack classes
LinkedHashSet and Tree
Q38. What is Comparable interface?

This interface can be used for defining natural sorting order of the objects.

It is present in java.lang package

It contains a method public int compareTo(Object obj1)

Q39. What is Comparator interface?

This interface can be used for implementing customized sorting order.

It is present in java.util package

It contains two methods

o

public int compare(Object ,Object)

public boolean equals(Object)

Q40. What are differences between Comparable and Comparator?

Comparable
1This can be used for natural sorting order
2This interface present in java.lang package

Comparator
1This can be used for implementing customized
sorting
2 This is present in java.util package

3Contains only one method:

public int compareTo(Object obj1)

3 It contains two methods.

public int compare(Object ,Object)
public Boolean equals(Object)

4 It is not a marker interface.

It is marker interface

Q41. What is difference between HashSet and TreeSet?

HashSet
1The underlying data structure is Hashtable
2Heterogeneous objects are allowed

TreeSet
1The underlying data structure is balanced tree
2
Heterogeneous objects are not allowed
bydefalut

3Insertion order is not preserved and it is based 3 Insertion order is not preserved and all the
on hashcode of the objects
objects are inserted according to some sorting
order.
4null insertion is possible

4 As the first element only null insertion is

possible and in all other cases we will get
NullPointerException

Q42. What is Entry interface?

It is inner interface of Map.
In the Map each key value pair is considered as Entry object.
interface Map{
//more code here
interface Entry{
Object getKey()
Object getValue()
Object setValue(Object new)
}
}
Q43. Explain about HashMap?
It is a Map Object which can be used used to represent a group of objects as keyvalue pairs.

The underlying data structure is Hashtable

Duplicaes keys are not allowed duplicate values are allowed

Insertion order is not preserved because insertion is based on hashcode of

keys.

Heterogeneous objects are allowed for both keys and values

null key is allowed only once

null values are allowed multiple times

Introduced in 1.2 version

Q44. Explain about LinkedHashMap?

It is child class of HashMap. It is exactly same as HashMap except the following
difference.
In the case of HashMap the insertion order is not preserved but in the case of
LinkedHashMap insertion order is preserved. Introduced in 1.4 version
Q45. Differences between HashMap and LinkedHashMap ?
HashMap

LinkedHashMap

1.The underlying data structure is Hashtable

1.The underlying data structure is a combination

of Hashtable and linkedlist
2.Insertion order is not preserved and it is based 2 Insertion order is preserved
on hashcode of keys
3.Introduced in 1.2 version
3 Introduced in 1.4 version.
Q46. Differences between HashMap and Hashtable?
HashMap

Hashtable

1.The underlying data structure is Hashtable

2.No method is synchronized and hence
HashMap object is not thread safe

1.The underlying data structure of Hashtable

2 .All methods are synchronized and hence it is
thread safe

3.Performance is high

3. Performance is low

4.null insertion is possible for both keys and

values

4. null insertion is not possible for both key and

value violation leads to NullPointerException

5.Introduced in 1.2 version and it is non legacy 5. Introduced in 1.0 version and it is legacy

Q47. What is IdentityHashMap?

It is exactly same as HashMap except the following difference.
In the HashMap JVM uses equals() method to identify duplicate keys but in the
case of IdentityHashMap JVM uses == operator for this.

Q48. What is difference between HashMap and IdentityHashMap?

Refer Q47 for the answer.
Q49. What is WeakHashMap?
It is exactly same as HashMap except the following difference.
In case of HashMap an Object is not eligible for garbage collection if it is associated
with HashMap even though it dosent have any external references. ie HashMap
dominates garbage collector.
But in case of WeakHashMap , if an Object is not having any external references then
it is always eligible for garabage collectoion even though it is associated with
weakHashMap. ie garbage collector dominates WeakHashMap
Q50. What is difference between HashMap and WeakHashMap?
Refer Q49 for the answer.
Q51. What is TreeMap?
TreeMap can be used to store a group of objects as key-value pairs where all the
entries are arranged according to some sorting order of keys.

The underlying data structure is RED-BLACK Tree

Duplicates keys are not allowed but values can be duplicated.

Insertion order is not preserved because insertion is based on some sorting

order

If we are depending on Natural sorting order then keys should be

homogeneous(violation leads to ClassCastException) but values need not
homogeneous

In case of customized sorting order we can insert heterogeneous keys and

values

For empty TreeMap as first entry with null values are allowed but after
inserting that entry if we are trying to insert any other entry we will get
NullPointerException

For non empty TreeMap if we are trying to insert null keys we will get
NullPointerException

There are no restrictions for null values.

Q52. What is Hashtable

Hashtable is a legacy Map and can be used to store objects as key value pairs.

The underlying data sturucture is Hashtabe

Duplicates keys are not allowed but duplicate values are allowed

null insertion is not possible for both keys and values

all methods are synchronized

insertion order is not preserved because it is based on hashcode of keys

heterogeneous Objects are allowed for both keys and values

introduced in 1.0 version it is legacy class

Q53. What is PriorityQueue?

It represents a data structure to hold group of individual objects prior to processing
based on some priority .it can be natural sorting order and it can be customized sorting
order described by Comparator.
It is the implementation class of Queue interface.

Insertion order is not preserved because here insertion is done based on some
sorting order

Duplicates are not allowed

null insertion is not possible even as first element also

If we are depending on natural sorting order Objects should be homogeneous

violation leads to ClassCastException

If we are depending on customized sorting order Objects can be

heterogeneous also.

Q54. What is Arrays class?

It is utility class for arrays.

It defines several utility methods for arrays like sorting an array or searching
an element in array

present in java.util package

Q55. We are planning to do an indexed search in a list of objects. Which of the

two Java collections should you use: ArrayList or LinkedList?

ArrayList
Q56. Why ArrayList is faster than Vector?
All methods present in the Vector are synchronized and hence any method can be
executed by only one thread at a time. It slows down the execution.
But in ArrayList, no method is synchronized and hence multiple thread are allowed
execute simultaneously which speed up the execution.