Using the Java Collections Framework

Ray Toal
Loyola Marymount University and Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc. April 7, 1999

Outline
Background (Java, Collections, ) What is in the Collections Framework Organization of the Framework Tour of the Collections Framework Concluding Remarks

Goals and Objectives

To present the overall organization and examples of the use of the Java Collections Framework so that
Programmers will be able to start using the framework right away Programmers will be able to get rid of tons of poorly commented, under-tested, non-standard, collection classes that defy (large-scale) reuse

What This Talk is About

What is in the JCF and how the JCF is organized Why the JCF looks the way it does, and why it is better than alternatives How to write code (right away) using the JCF (via examples) Helping you to become a better Java programmer

What This Talk is NOT About

Introductory Java Programming Object Oriented Programming (though the basics are assumed) Absolute details of the classes and interfaces (we prefer code samples) Language Wars Swing

Background

Java
An enormously popular, buzzword-compliant language for the 1990s and beyond Not currently an international standard Consists of (1) a base language with the usual keywords, declarations, expressions and statements, and (2) a Core API Other languages would call the "Core API" a "standard library"

The Java Core API

Currently consists of 59 packages (see on-line documentation for complete list) Informally, the Core API covers language support, utilities, input/output, graphics, graphical user interfaces, networking, concurrency and distribution, security, database connectivity

The package java.util

Has the following stuff:
Collections!! Calendars, Dates, Time zone stuff i18n stuff: Locale, ResourceBundle Event stuff: EventObject, Observable, Observer... Some useful exception classes Really miscellaneous stuff: Random, Permission classes, StringTokenizer

What is a Collection?
An object that contains other objects Four main topologies: Set, Sequence, Hierarchy, Network (some people like to throw in Dictionary) Other metrics: allows duplicates? sorted? Usually described by interfaces Don't confuse data types with data structures

JCF Overview

Simple Example 1
import java.util.*; public class SimpleSetDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { Set s = new HashSet(); s.add("odin"); s.add("dva"); s.add("tri"); Set t = new TreeSet(); t.add("dva"); t.add("chityri"); t.add("shest"); s.retainAll(t); for (Iterator it = s.iterator(); it.hasNext();) System.out.println(it.next()); } }

Simple Example 2
import java.util.*; public class SimpleListDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { List s = new LinkedList(); s.add("odin"); s.add("dva"); s.add(1, "tri"); List t = new ArrayList(); t.add("dva"); t.add(0, "chityri"); t.set(1, "shest"); s.addAll(t); for (Iterator it = s.subList(1, 4).iterator(); it.hasNext();) System.out.println(it.next()); } }

Simple Example 3
public class ExampleDictionaryProgram { public static void main(String[] args) { java.util.HashMap spanishWords = new HashMap(); java.util.HashMap russianWords = new HashMap(); spanishWords.put("red", "rojo"); spanishWords.put("brown", "caf\u00e9"); russianWords.put("black", "\u0447\u0451\u0440\u043d\u044b\u0439"); russianWords.put("white", "\u0431\u0435\u043b\u044b\u0439"); javax.swing.JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, spanishWords.get("red")); System.exit(0); } }

What's in the JCF?

Collection Interfaces Collection Implementations
general purpose / wrapper / abstract / convenience / legacy

Algorithms
sort, shuffle, search, min, max, copy, fill, ...

Infrastructure
iterators, ordering, exceptions

Design Goals
Small in size and conceptual weight
don't let number of classes skyrocket by trying to capture subtleties with distinct classes Method in interface IFF it is a basic operation or there's a compelling reason why someone would want to override

Interoperability among reasonable representations

Tour of the JCF

Collection Interfaces
Collection
interface

Map Set
interface

List
interface

interface

SortedMap SortedSet
interface interface

Collection
public interface Collection { int size(); boolean isEmpty(); boolean contains(Object element); boolean add(Object element); boolean remove(Object element); Iterator iterator(); boolean containsAll(Collection c); boolean addAll(Collection c); boolean removeAll(Collection c); boolean retainAll(Collection c); void clear(); Object[] toArray(); Object[] toArray(Object a[]); }

Set
public interface Set extends Collection { // intentionally empty. }

List
public interface List extends Collection { Object get(int index); Object set(int index, Object element); void add(int index, Object element); Object remove(int index); boolean addAll(int index, Collection c); int indexOf(Object o); int lastIndexOf(Object o); ListIterator listIterator(); ListIterator listIterator(int index); List subList(int from, int to); } // // // // Optional Optional Optional Optional

Map
public interface Map { Object put(Object key, Object value); Object get(Object key); Object remove(Object key); boolean containsKey(Object key); boolean containsValue(Object value); void putAll(Map t); public Set keySet(); public Collection values(); public Set entrySet(); public interface Entry { Object getKey(); Object getValue(); Object setValue(Object value); } }

SortedSet
public interface SortedSet extends Set { SortedSet subSet(Object fromElement, Object toElement); SortedSet headSet(Object toElement); SortedSet tailSet(Object fromElement); Object first(); Object last(); Comparator comparator(); }

SortedMap
public interface SortedMap extends Map { SortedMap subMap(Object fromKey, Object toKey); SortedMap headMap(Object toKey); SortedMap tailMap(Object fromKey); Object first(); Object last(); Comparator comparator(); }

General Purpose Implementations

Interfaces Hash Table Set List Map HashMap HashSet ArrayList TreeMap Implementations Resizable Array Balanced Tree TreeSet LinkedList Linked List

Wrapper Implementations
public class Collections { ... public static Collection synchronizedCollection(Collection c) public static List synchronizedList(List list) public static Map synchronizedMap(Map m) public static Set synchronizedSet(Set s) public static SortedMap synchronizedSortedMap(SortedMap m) public static SortedSet synchronizedSortedSet(SortedSet s) public static Collection unmodifiableCollection(Collection c) public static List unmodifiableList(List list) public static Map unmodifiableMap(Map m) public static Set unmodifiableSet(Set s) public static SortedMap unmodifiableSortedMap(SortedMap m) public static SortedSet unmodifiableSortedSet(SortedSet s) ... }

Convenience Implementations
public class Collections { ... // All of the following are immutable public static List EMPTY_LIST = ... public static Set EMPTY_SET = ... public static Set singleton(Object o) {...} public static List nCopies(int n, Object o) {...} ... }

Some Algorithms
public class Collections { ... // some of these have versions taking Comparators too public static int binarySearch(List list, Object key) {} public static void copy(List dest, List src) {} public static void fill(List list, Object o) {} public static Object max(Collection coll) {} public static Object min(Collection coll) {} public static void reverse(List list) {} public static void shuffle(List list) {} public static void shuffle(List list, Random rnd) {} public static void sort(List list) {} ... }

Iterators
public interface Iterator { boolean hasNext(); Object next(); void remove(); } public interface ListIterator extends Iterator { void add(Object o) int nextIndex() boolean hasPrevious() Object previous() int previousIndex() void set(Object o) }

Concluding Remarks

Advice
Use the new collections in all your new work; port old code if feasible Know something about performance Compose your own quick-reference guide to the JCF Tell your friends who still use Vector and Hashtable to get a life :-)

How to get good at this

Read the on-line Collections Framework Overview, the on-line Annotated Outline of the Collections Framework, and the Collections Framework FAQ Do the Collections trail on the on-line Java tutorial Read the on-line API reference for java.util Write tons of code