Collections in Java
The Collection in Java is a framework that provides an architecture to store and manipulate the group of
objects.
Java Collections can achieve all the operations that you perform on a data such as searching, sorting,
insertion, manipulation, and deletion.
Java Collection means a single unit of objects. Java Collection framework provides many interfaces (Set,
List, Queue, Deque) and classes (ArrayList, Vector, LinkedList, PriorityQueue, HashSet, LinkedHashSet,
TreeSet).
What is Collection in Java
A Collection represents a single unit of objects, i.e., a group.
What is a framework in Java
o It provides readymade architecture.
o It represents a set of classes and interfaces.
o It is optional.
What is Collection framework
The Collection framework represents a unified architecture for storing and manipulating a group of
objects. It has:
1. Interfaces and its implementations, i.e., classes
2. Algorithm
Hierarchy of Collection Framework
Let us see the hierarchy of Collection framework. The java.util package contains all
the classes and interfaces for the Collection framework.
Collection Interface
The Collection interface is the interface which is implemented by all the classes in the collection framework.
It declares the methods that every collection will have. In other words, we can say that the Collection
interface builds the foundation on which the collection framework depends.
Methods of Collection interface
There are many methods declared in the Collection interface. They are as follows:
No. Method Description
1 public boolean add(E e) It is used to insert an element in this collection.
2 public boolean addAll(Collection<? It is used to insert the specified collection
extends E> c) elements in the invoking collection.
3 public boolean remove(Object It is used to delete an element from the collection.
element)
4 public boolean It is used to delete all the elements of the
removeAll(Collection<?> c) specified collection from the invoking collection.
5 default boolean removeIf(Predicate<? It is used to delete all the elements of the
super E> filter) collection that satisfy the specified predicate.
6 public boolean It is used to delete all the elements of invoking
retainAll(Collection<?> c) collection except the specified collection.
7 public int size() It returns the total number of elements in the
collection.
8 public void clear() It removes the total number of elements from the
collection.
9 public boolean contains(Object It is used to search an element.
element)
10 public boolean It is used to search the specified collection in the
containsAll(Collection<?> c) collection.
11 public Iterator iterator() It returns an iterator.
12 public Object[] toArray() It converts collection into array.
13 public <T> T[] toArray(T[] a) It converts collection into array. Here, the runtime
type of the returned array is that of the specified
array.
14 public boolean isEmpty() It checks if collection is empty.
15 default Stream<E> parallelStream() It returns a possibly parallel Stream with the
collection as its source.
16 default Stream<E> stream() It returns a sequential Stream with the collection
as its source.
17 default Spliterator<E> spliterator() It generates a Spliterator over the specified
elements in the collection.
18 public boolean equals(Object element) It matches two collections.
19 public int hashCode() It returns the hash code number of the collection.
Iterator interface
Iterator interface provides the facility of iterating the elements in a forward direction only.
Methods of Iterator interface
There are only three methods in the Iterator interface. They are:
No. Method Description
1 public boolean hasNext() It returns true if the iterator has more elements otherwise it
returns false.
2 public Object next() It returns the element and moves the cursor pointer to the next
element.
3 public void remove() It removes the last elements returned by the iterator. It is less
used.
Iterable Interface
The Iterable interface is the root interface for all the collection classes. The Collection interface extends the
Iterable interface and therefore all the subclasses of Collection interface also implement the Iterable
interface.
It contains only one abstract method. i.e.,
1. Iterator<T> iterator()
It returns the iterator over the elements of type T.
List Interface
List interface is the child interface of Collection interface. It inhibits a list type data structure in which we
can store the ordered collection of objects. It can have duplicate values.
List interface is implemented by the classes ArrayList, LinkedList, Vector, and Stack.
To instantiate the List interface, we must use :
1. List <data-type> list1= new ArrayList();
2. List <data-type> list2 = new LinkedList();
3. List <data-type> list3 = new Vector();
4. List <data-type> list4 = new Stack();
There are various methods in List interface that can be used to insert, delete, and access the elements from
the list.
The classes that implement the List interface are given below.
ArrayList
The ArrayList class implements the List interface. It uses a dynamic array to store the duplicate element of
different data types. The ArrayList class maintains the insertion order and is non-synchronized. The
elements stored in the ArrayList class can be randomly accessed.
It is found in the java.util package. It is like the Vector in C++. The ArrayList in Java can have the duplicate
elements also. It inherits the AbstractList class and implements List interface.
The important points about Java ArrayList class are:
o Java ArrayList class can contain duplicate elements.
o Java ArrayList class maintains insertion order.
o Java ArrayList class is non synchronized.
o Java ArrayList allows random access because array works at the index basis.
o In ArrayList, manipulation is little bit slower than the LinkedList in Java because a lot of shifting
needs to occur if any element is removed from the array list.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
class TestJavaCollection1{
public static void main(String args[]){
//Creating arraylist
ArrayList<String> list=new ArrayList<String>();
list.add("Ravi");//Adding object in arraylist
list.add("Vijay");
list.add("Ravi");
list.add("Ajay");
//Traversing list through Iterator
Iterator itr=list.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Ravi
Vijay
Ravi
Ajay
LinkedList
LinkedList implements the Collection interface. It uses a doubly linked list internally to store the
elements. It can store the duplicate elements. It maintains the insertion order and is not synchronized. In
LinkedList, the manipulation is fast because no shifting is required.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection2{
public static void main(String args[]){
LinkedList<String> al=new LinkedList<String>();
al.add("Ravi");
al.add("Vijay");
al.add("Ravi");
al.add("Ajay");
Iterator<String> itr=al.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Ravi
Vijay
Ravi
Ajay
Vector
Vector uses a dynamic array to store the data elements. It is similar to ArrayList. However, It is synchronized
and contains many methods that are not the part of Collection framework.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection3{
public static void main(String args[]){
Vector<String> v=new Vector<String>();
v.add("Ayush");
v.add("Amit");
v.add("Ashish");
v.add("Garima");
Iterator<String> itr=v.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Ayush
Amit
Ashish
Garima
Stack
The stack is the subclass of Vector. It implements the last-in-first-out data structure, i.e., Stack. The stack
contains all of the methods of Vector class and also provides its methods like boolean push(), boolean peek(),
boolean push(object o), which defines its properties.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection4{
public static void main(String args[]){
Stack<String> stack = new Stack<String>();
stack.push("Ayush");
stack.push("Garvit");
stack.push("Amit");
stack.push("Ashish");
stack.push("Garima");
stack.pop();
Iterator<String> itr=stack.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Ayush
Garvit
Amit
Ashish
Queue Interface
Queue interface maintains the first-in-first-out order. It can be defined as an ordered list that is used to hold
the elements which are about to be processed. There are various classes like PriorityQueue, Deque, and
ArrayDeque which implements the Queue interface.
Queue interface can be instantiated as:
1. Queue<String> q1 = new PriorityQueue();
2. Queue<String> q2 = new ArrayDeque();
There are various classes that implement the Queue interface, some of them are given below.
PriorityQueue
The PriorityQueue class implements the Queue interface. It holds the elements or objects which are to be
processed by their priorities. PriorityQueue doesn't allow null values to be stored in the queue.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection5{
public static void main(String args[]){
PriorityQueue<String> queue=new PriorityQueue<String>();
queue.add("Amit Sharma");
queue.add("Vijay Raj");
queue.add("JaiShankar");
queue.add("Raj");
System.out.println("head:"+queue.element());
System.out.println("head:"+queue.peek());
System.out.println("iterating the queue elements:");
Iterator itr=queue.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
queue.remove();
queue.poll();
System.out.println("after removing two elements:");
Iterator<String> itr2=queue.iterator();
while(itr2.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr2.next());
}
}
}
Output:
head: Amit Sharma
head: Amit Sharma
iterating the queue elements:
Amit Sharma
Raj
JaiShankar
Vijay Raj
after removing two elements:
Raj
Vijay Raj
Deque Interface
Deque interface extends the Queue interface. In Deque, we can remove and add the elements from both
the side. Deque stands for a double-ended queue which enables us to perform the operations at both the
ends.
Deque can be instantiated as:
1. Deque d = new ArrayDeque();
ArrayDeque
ArrayDeque class implements the Deque interface. It facilitates us to use the Deque. Unlike queue, we can
add or delete the elements from both the ends.
ArrayDeque is faster than ArrayList and Stack and has no capacity restrictions.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection6{
public static void main(String[] args) {
//Creating Deque and adding elements
Deque<String> deque = new ArrayDeque<String>();
deque.add("Gautam");
deque.add("Karan");
deque.add("Ajay");
//Traversing elements
for (String str : deque) {
System.out.println(str);
}
}
}
Output:
Gautam
Karan
Ajay
Set Interface
Set Interface in Java is present in java.util package. It extends the Collection interface. It represents the
unordered set of elements which doesn't allow us to store the duplicate items. We can store at most one
null value in Set. Set is implemented by HashSet, LinkedHashSet, and TreeSet.
Set can be instantiated as:
1. Set<data-type> s1 = new HashSet<data-type>();
2. Set<data-type> s2 = new LinkedHashSet<data-type>();
3. Set<data-type> s3 = new TreeSet<data-type>();
HashSet
HashSet class implements Set Interface. It represents the collection that uses a hash table for storage.
Hashing is used to store the elements in the HashSet. It contains unique items.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection7{
public static void main(String args[]){
//Creating HashSet and adding elements
HashSet<String> set=new HashSet<String>();
set.add("Ravi");
set.add("Vijay");
set.add("Ravi");
set.add("Ajay");
//Traversing elements
Iterator<String> itr=set.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Vijay
Ravi
Ajay
LinkedHashSet
LinkedHashSet class represents the LinkedList implementation of Set Interface. It extends the HashSet class
and implements Set interface. Like HashSet, It also contains unique elements. It maintains the insertion
order and permits null elements.
Consider the following example.
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection8{
public static void main(String args[]){
LinkedHashSet<String> set=new LinkedHashSet<String>();
set.add("Ravi");
set.add("Vijay");
set.add("Ravi");
set.add("Ajay");
Iterator<String> itr=set.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Ravi
Vijay
Ajay
SortedSet Interface
SortedSet is the alternate of Set interface that provides a total ordering on its elements. The elements of
the SortedSet are arranged in the increasing (ascending) order. The SortedSet provides the additional
methods that inhibit the natural ordering of the elements.
The SortedSet can be instantiated as:
1. SortedSet<data-type> set = new TreeSet();
TreeSet
Java TreeSet class implements the Set interface that uses a tree for storage. Like HashSet, TreeSet also
contains unique elements. However, the access and retrieval time of TreeSet is quite fast. The elements in
TreeSet stored in ascending order.
Consider the following example:
import java.util.*;
public class TestJavaCollection9{
public static void main(String args[]){
//Creating and adding elements
TreeSet<String> set=new TreeSet<String>();
set.add("Ravi");
set.add("Vijay");
set.add("Ravi");
set.add("Ajay");
//traversing elements
Iterator<String> itr=set.iterator();
while(itr.hasNext()){
System.out.println(itr.next());
}
}
}
Output:
Ajay
Ravi
Vijay
