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
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 colle
2 public boolean addAll(Collection<? It is used to insert the specified collection
extends E> c) invoking collection.
3 public boolean remove(Object It is used to delete an element from the c
element)
4 public boolean It is used to delete all the elements
removeAll(Collection<?> c) collection from the invoking collection.
5 default boolean It is used to delete all the elements of t
removeIf(Predicate<? super E> satisfy the specified predicate.
filter)
6 public boolean It is used to delete all the elements of in
retainAll(Collection<?> c) except the specified collection.
7 public int size() It returns the total number of elements in
8 public void clear() It removes the total number of ele
collection.
9 public boolean contains(Object It is used to search an element.
element)
10 public boolean It is used to search the specified c
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, th
the returned array is that of the specified
14 public boolean isEmpty() It checks if collection is empty.
15 default Stream<E> parallelStream() It returns a possibly parallel Stream with
its source.
16 default Stream<E> stream() It returns a sequential Stream with the
source.
17 default Spliterator<E> spliterator() It generates a Spliterator over the spec
the collection.
18 public boolean equals(Object It matches two collections.
element)
19 public int hashCode() It returns the hash code number of the co
Iterator interface
Iterator interface provides the facility of iterating the elements in a forward direction on
Methods of Iterator interface
There are only three methods in the Iterator interface. They are:
No. Method Description
1 public boolean It returns true if the iterator has more elements oth
hasNext() false.
2 public Object next() It returns the element and moves the cursor poi
element.
3 public void remove() It removes the last elements returned by the iterator
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. Consider the
following example.
1. import java.util.*;
2. class TestJavaCollection1{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. ArrayList<String> list=new ArrayList<String>();//Creating arraylist
5. list.add("Ravi");//Adding object in arraylist
6. list.add("Vijay");
7. list.add("Ravi");
8. list.add("Ajay");
9. //Traversing list through Iterator
10. Iterator itr=list.iterator();
11. while(itr.hasNext()){
12. System.out.println(itr.next());
13. }
14. }
15. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection2{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. LinkedList<String> al=new LinkedList<String>();
5. al.add("Ravi");
6. al.add("Vijay");
7. al.add("Ravi");
8. al.add("Ajay");
9. Iterator<String> itr=al.iterator();
10. while(itr.hasNext()){
11. System.out.println(itr.next());
12. }
13. }
14. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection3{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. Vector<String> v=new Vector<String>();
5. v.add("Ayush");
6. v.add("Amit");
7. v.add("Ashish");
8. v.add("Garima");
9. Iterator<String> itr=v.iterator();
10. while(itr.hasNext()){
11. System.out.println(itr.next());
12. }
13. }
14. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection4{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. Stack<String> stack = new Stack<String>();
5. stack.push("Ayush");
6. stack.push("Garvit");
7. stack.push("Amit");
8. stack.push("Ashish");
9. stack.push("Garima");
10. stack.pop();
11. Iterator<String> itr=stack.iterator();
12. while(itr.hasNext()){
13. System.out.println(itr.next());
14. }
15. }
16. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection5{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. PriorityQueue<String> queue=new PriorityQueue<String>();
5. queue.add("Amit Sharma");
6. queue.add("Vijay Raj");
7. queue.add("JaiShankar");
8. queue.add("Raj");
9. System.out.println("head:"+queue.element());
10. System.out.println("head:"+queue.peek());
11. System.out.println("iterating the queue elements:");
12. Iterator itr=queue.iterator();
13. while(itr.hasNext()){
14. System.out.println(itr.next());
15. }
16. queue.remove();
17. queue.poll();
18. System.out.println("after removing two elements:");
19. Iterator<String> itr2=queue.iterator();
20. while(itr2.hasNext()){
21. System.out.println(itr2.next());
22. }
23. }
24. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection6{
3. public static void main(String[] args) {
4. //Creating Deque and adding elements
5. Deque<String> deque = new ArrayDeque<String>();
6. deque.add("Gautam");
7. deque.add("Karan");
8. deque.add("Ajay");
9. //Traversing elements
10. for (String str : deque) {
11. System.out.println(str);
12. }
13. }
14. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection7{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. //Creating HashSet and adding elements
5. HashSet<String> set=new HashSet<String>();
6. set.add("Ravi");
7. set.add("Vijay");
8. set.add("Ravi");
9. set.add("Ajay");
10. //Traversing elements
11. Iterator<String> itr=set.iterator();
12. while(itr.hasNext()){
13. System.out.println(itr.next());
14. }
15. }
16. }
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.
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection8{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. LinkedHashSet<String> set=new LinkedHashSet<String>();
5. set.add("Ravi");
6. set.add("Vijay");
7. set.add("Ravi");
8. set.add("Ajay");
9. Iterator<String> itr=set.iterator();
10. while(itr.hasNext()){
11. System.out.println(itr.next());
12. }
13. }
14. }
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:
1. import java.util.*;
2. public class TestJavaCollection9{
3. public static void main(String args[]){
4. //Creating and adding elements
5. TreeSet<String> set=new TreeSet<String>();
6. set.add("Ravi");
7. set.add("Vijay");
8. set.add("Ravi");
9. set.add("Ajay");
10. //traversing elements
11. Iterator<String> itr=set.iterator();
12. while(itr.hasNext()){
13. System.out.println(itr.next());
14. }
15. }
16. }
Output:
Ajay
Ravi
Vijay
