@naveenkumarqa
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💹CheatSheet
Collections Evolution
🧩 Concept 🚀 Advantage over Previous
🔢 Primitive Data Types Stores a single value (e.g., , )
int char
📦 Array Stores multiple same-type values with fixed size
📈 ArrayList Supports dynamic resizing and fast random access
🔗 LinkedList Enables faster insert/delete via doubly linked
nodes
📒 Vector Like ArrayList, but thread-safe via synchronization
🌀 Stack / Queue Provides LIFO/FIFO access for sequential
processing
⏫ PriorityQueue Processes elements based on priority (Min-Heap)
🎯 HashSet Stores unique items with constant-time lookup
🧾 LinkedHashSet Keeps insertion order along with uniqueness
🌳 TreeSet Stores sorted unique elements using Red-Black
Tree
🗂 HashMap Stores key-value pairs with fast access
🧷 LinkedHashMap Maintains insertion order in key-value mappings
📚 TreeMap Keeps keys sorted for range-based access
🏦 Hashtable Offers synchronized key-value access (thread-
safe)
🌐 ConcurrentHashMap Provides
storage
high-concurrency thread-safe key-value
💹 Collections Evolution CheatSheet 1
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🛍️ ArrayList
➡️ Implements List Interface
🧱 Data Structure 📐 Dynamic Array
🔢 Default Size 🔟
🧮 Load Factor ➕ Increases by 50% on resize
🧭 Order ✅ Insertion order preserved
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ✅ Allowed (multiple)
‼️ Duplicates ✅ Allowed
💡 Usage Fast random access,
rare inserts/removals
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – ⚡ Fast
✍ Modify – 🐢 Slow
🌍 Real-world 🛒 Shopping list
🧰 Methods .add() , .get() , .set() , .remove() ,
.size() , .clear()
🛍️ ArrayList 1
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🚂 LinkedList
➡️ Implements List , Deque Interfaces
🧱 Data Structure 🔗 Doubly Linked List (Node)
🔗 Node Object data, Node next, Node prev
🔢 Default Size 📈 Dynamic
🧮 Load Factor 🚫 Not applicable
🧭 Order ✅ Insertion order preserved
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ✅ Allowed (multiple)
‼️ Duplicates ✅ Allowed
💡 Usage Frequent inserts/deletes,
Minimal random access
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – 🐢 Slow
✍ Modify – ⚡ Fast for ends
🌍 Real-world 🚂 Train coach
🧰 Methods .addFirst() , .addLast() , .poll() ,
.peak()
🚂 LinkedList 1
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🏥 PriorityQueue
➡️ Implements Queue Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🎄 Min-Heap Binary Tree (FIFO)
🔢 Default Size 📈 Dynamic
🧭 Order ⏳ Based on priority
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ❌ Not Allowed
‼️ Duplicates ✅ Allowed
💡 Usage Prioritize elements before
processing
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – 🐢 Slow
✍ Modify – 🐢 Slow
🌍 Real-world 🏥 Hospital triage
➕ Adds to tail add() throws exception,
offer() returns false
➖ Retrieves head element() throws exception,
peek() returns null
❌ Removes head remove() throws exception,
poll() returns null
🏥 PriorityQueue 1
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🔑 HashSet
➡️ Implements Set Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🧮 Hash Table
🔢 Default Size 16
🧮 Load Factor 0.75
🧭 Order ❌ Not preserved
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ✅ One null allowed
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Not allowed
💡 Usage Ensure unique without order
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – ⚡ Fast
✍ Modify – ⚡ Fast
🌍 Real-world 🔑 Keychain (Each key is unique but
unorderd)
🧰 Methods .clone()
🔑 HashSet 1
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🗓️ LinkedHashSet
➡️ Implements Set Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🧮 Hash Table + 🔗 Doubly Linked
List
🔢 Default Size 16
🧮 Load Factor 0.75
🧭 Order ✅ Insertion order preserved
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ✅ One null allowed
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Not allowed
💡 Usage Ensure unique with insertion order
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – ⚡ Fast
✍ Modify – ⚡ Fast
🌍 Real-world 🗓️ Calendar Events (chronological &
unique)
🧰 Methods Same as HashSet
🗓️ LinkedHashSet 1
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📚 TreeSet
➡️ Implements SortedSet & NavigableSet Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🎋 Red-Black Tree
🔢 Default Size 📈 Dynamic
🧭 Order 🔢 Sorted elements
(natural/comparator)
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ❌ Not Allowed
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Not Allowed
💡 Usage Maintain sorted unique elements
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – 🐢 Slow
✍ Modify – 🐢 Slow
🌍 Real-world 📚 Dictionary
🧰 Methods
.first() , .last() , .lower() , .higher() ,
.floor() , .ceiling() , .headSet() ,
.tailSet()
📚 TreeSet 1
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📞 HashMap
➡️ Implements Map Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🧮 Hash Table
🔢 Default Size 16
🧮 Load Factor 0.75
🧭 Order ❌ Not preserved
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ✅ One null key,
Multiple null values
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Keys must be unique,
✅ Values can repeat
💡 Usage Fast key-value pair access
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – ⚡ Fast
✍ Modify – ⚡ Fast
🌍 Real-world 📞 Phone contacts
🧰 Methods .put() , .keySet() , .values() ,
.entrySet() , .getKey() , .getValue()
📞 HashMap 1
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📲 LinkedHashMap
➡️ Implements Map Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🧮 Hash Table + 🔗 Doubly Linked
List
🔢 Default Size 16
🧮 Load Factor 0.75
🧭 Order ✅ Insertion order preserved
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ✅ One null key,
Multiple null values
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Keys must be unique,
✅ Values can repeat
💡 Usage Maintain insertion order with fast
access
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – ⚡ Fast
✍ Modify – ⚡ Fast
🌍 Real-world 📲 Phone’s Recent Calls (ordered in
call timestamps)
🧰 Methods Same as HashSet
📲 LinkedHashMap 1
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📖 TreeMap
➡️ Implements SortedMap & NavigableMap Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🎋 Red-Black Tree
🔢 Default Size 📈 Dynamic
🧭 Order 🔢 Sorted by keys
(natural/comparator)
🔐 Sync 🔓 Not synchronized
⭕ Nulls ❌ Null keys not allowed, ✅ Null
values allowed
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Duplicate keys not allowed
💡 Usage Maintain sorted key-value pairs
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – 🐢 Slow
✍ Modify – 🐢 Slow
🌍 Real-world 📖 Encyclopedia (alphabetical order)
🧰 Methods
.firstKey() , .lastKey() , .lowerKey() ,
.higherKey() , .subMap() , .headMap() ,
.tailMap()
📖 TreeMap 1
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🏦 HashTable
➡️ Implements Map Interface
🧱 Data Structure 🧮 Hash Table
🔢 Default Size 11
🧮 Load Factor 0.75
🧭 Order ❌ Not preserved
🔐 Sync ✅ Thread-safe
⭕ Nulls ❌ Not allowed
‼️ Duplicates ❌ Keys must be unique,
✅ Values can repeat
💡 Usage Thread-safe key-value storage
(legacy)
⚡ Performance 🔍 Search – 🐌 Moderate
✍ Modify – 🐌 Moderate
🌍 Real-world 🏦 Bank Locker system with one
person at a time
🧰 Methods .keys() , .elements() , .clone() ,
.rehash()
🏦 HashTable 1
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🌏 Real World Analogy
Collection Real-World Analogy
ArrayList
🛒 Shopping list — items added in order, fast access by
index
LinkedList
🚂 Train Coach — easy to attach/detach (nodes) from
either end
Vector 📽️ Film Projector — reel-to-reel one frame at a time
HashSet 🔑 Jumbled Keychain — each key (element) is unique
LinkedHashSet
🏛️ Museum artifacts — unique items maintained in
order of arrival
TreeSet 📖 Dictionary — sorted words without duplicates
PriorityQueue
🏥 Hospital triage — most urgent patient (smallest
element) treated first
ArrayDeque
🛣️ Toll booth line — cars (elements) enter/exit from
both ends
Queue (LinkedList) 🎟️ Movie ticket queue — maintains insertion order
HashMap
📞 Contact list — names (keys) linked to phone
numbers (values)
LinkedHashMap
📝 Recipe steps — ordered key-value pairs, preserving
insertion order
TreeMap 📚 Encyclopedia — sorted topics with their explanations
ConcurrentHashMap
🌐 Wikipedia Edits — allows safe, parallel access to
users
Hashtable
🏦 Bank vault — synchronized and thread-safe, sorted
dates
🌏 Real World Analogy 1
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💻 Tech Analogy
Collection Tech Analogy
ArrayList
📸 Photo gallery app — fast to view any photo by index,
good for browsing
LinkedList
🎧 Music playlist — songs linked in order, easy to
insert/remove anywhere
Vector
🧾 Shared Google Sheet — multiple people can safely
edit (thread-safe ArrayList)
HashSet
🔐 Password manager — stores only unique
passwords, fast to check existence
LinkedHashSet
🗓️ Event Calendar — events added chronologically no
duplicates
TreeSet
📇 Autocomplete Suggestions — results are sorted and
unique
PriorityQueue
🔂 Task Scheduler — OS scheduler executes high-
priority tasks first
ArrayDeque
⏪ Undo/Redo stack in Editor — quick undo or redo
efficiently.
Queue (LinkedList) 📧 Messaging app — FIFO Outgoing message queue
HashMap
📱 Contacts app — store name-number pairs for fast
lookup
LinkedHashMap
🖼️ Instagram Story queue — key-value pairs shown in
order
TreeMap
📂 Sorted folder names — keys auto-sorted, like
alphabetical files
ConcurrentHashMap
📊 JIRA dashboard — multiple users reading/writing
data safely
Hashtable
🔏 Shared Google Sheet — but only one person can
edit at a time
💻 Tech Analogy 1
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