Top 30 Java
Collections Topics
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with Examples
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Disclaimer
This document is intended for educational purposes only. While every effort has been made
to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information provided on Java Collections
Framework topics—including interfaces, classes, methods, examples, and best
practices—there may be errors, omissions, or outdated content due to continuous
advancements in Java technology.
The code samples provided are for demonstration purposes and may require adaptation for
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Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation
and/or its affiliates. This document is an independent educational supplement and is not
formally associated with or endorsed by Oracle Corporation or its affiliates.
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Readers are encouraged to refer to the official Java documentation and authorized reference
materials to supplement their understanding and to ensure they are using up-to-date
practices.
Feel free to adjust the wording or add institution/author details as appropriate for your course
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or context!
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Java Collections: Complete Topics With Detailed
Descriptions and Examples
The Java Collections Framework (JCF) is a unified architecture for
storing and manipulating groups of objects. It provides interfaces and
classes for different types of collections and algorithms for
manipulating them. Below are the core topics in Java Collections, each
with a clear explanation and a thorough programming example.
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1. Collection Interface
Description:
The Collection interface is the root of the Java Collections framework.
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It defines the basic methods like add, remove, size, iterator, and clear
that all collections implement.
Example:
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2. List Interface
Description:
A List is an ordered collection that can contain duplicate elements
and supports index-based access. Common implementations are
ArrayList, LinkedList, Vector, and Stack.
Example (ArrayList):
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3. Set Interface
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Description:
A Set is a collection that cannot contain duplicate elements. The order
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may or may not be preserved, based on implementation. Main
implementations are HashSet, LinkedHashSet, and TreeSet.
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Example (HashSet):
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4. Queue Interface
Description:
A Queue is used to hold multiple elements before processing, usually in
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FIFO (First-In-First-Out) order. Implementations include LinkedList,
PriorityQueue, and ArrayDeque.
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Example (PriorityQueue):
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5. Deque Interface
Description:
The Deque (Double-ended Queue) interface allows elements to be
added or removed from both ends. Implementations include
ArrayDeque and LinkedList.
Example (ArrayDeque):
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6. Map Interface
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Description:
A Map is an object that maps keys to values. Each key can map to at
most one value. Implementations include HashMap, LinkedHashMap,
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TreeMap, and Hashtable.
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Example (HashMap):
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7. Stack Class
Description:
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A Stack is a subclass of Vector representing a LIFO (Last-In-First-Out)
stack of objects. Primary methods are push (add), pop (remove), and
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peek (examine top).
Example:
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8. Algorithms Class (Collections Utility Methods)
Description:
The Collections class provides static methods for sorting, searching,
shuffling, and reversing collections.
Example:
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9. Comparable and Comparator Interfaces
Description:
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Used for sorting objects. Comparable defines natural ordering using the
compareTo() method; Comparator defines custom ordering with
compare().
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Example (Comparator):
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10. Legacy Classes (Vector, Hashtable, Enumeration)
Description:
Pre-framework collection classes, still maintained for backward
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compatibility. Vector is like an ArrayList but synchronized. Hashtable is
like HashMap but synchronized.
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Example (Vector):
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11. Synchronized Collections and Concurrent
Collections
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Description:
Java provides thread-safe collections like
Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<>()),
CopyOnWriteArrayList, ConcurrentHashMap for use in multithreaded
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programs.
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Example (CopyOnWriteArrayList):
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12. NavigableSet and NavigableMap Interfaces
Description:
NavigableSet and NavigableMap extend the SortedSet and
SortedMap interfaces, respectively. They provide navigation
methods for searching for entries that are closest to given search
targets (lower, floor, ceiling, higher, pollFirst, pollLast, etc.).
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Example (TreeSet as NavigableSet):
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13. EnumSet and EnumMap
Description:
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EnumSet is a specialized Set implementation for use with enum
types—very efficient and compact. EnumMap is a specialized Map
for enum keys, providing fast, space-efficient mapping.
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Example (EnumSet & EnumMap):
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14. WeakHashMap
Description:
A WeakHashMap is a Map that stores its keys using weak references.
If a key is no longer in ordinary use, it can be garbage-collected,
and the mapping is removed automatically.
Example:
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15. IdentityHashMap
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Description:
IdentityHashMap uses the == operator (reference equality)
instead of .equals() for comparing keys. Useful for use-cases
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needing reference equality semantics.
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Example:
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16. LinkedHashMap and LinkedHashSet
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Description:
These maintain a doubly-linked list running through their entries,
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maintaining insertion order. LinkedHashMap also supports a "least
recently accessed" order, useful for caches.
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Example (LinkedHashMap):
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17. BlockingQueue and Concurrent Collections
Description:
BlockingQueue is designed for use in producer-consumer
scenarios. It supports thread-safe methods such as put and take,
which wait when the queue is empty or full.
Example (LinkedBlockingQueue):
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18. Unmodifiable Collections
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Description:
Unmodifiable collections are wrappers that make an existing
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collection read-only. Attempts to modify them will result in
UnsupportedOperationException. These are created using
methods like Collections.unmodifiableList(),
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unmodifiableSet(), or via factory methods from Java 9’s
List.of(), Set.of(), and Map.of().
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Example:
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19. Singleton and Empty Collections
Description:
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Java offers utility methods to create singleton collections (with a
single element) and empty, immutable collections. Useful for
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returning unmodifiable “default” values.
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Example:
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20. BitSet
Description:
BitSet is a special-purpose class for creating arrays of bits
(booleans), useful for performance-critical applications where
compact storage and bitwise operations are needed.
Example:
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21. Arrays Utility Class
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Description:
While not a “collection” per se, Arrays provides static methods for
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manipulating arrays, including conversions to lists, sorting,
searching, filling, and comparison.
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Example:
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22. Custom Collection Implementation
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Description:
You can implement your own collection classes by extending
AbstractCollection, AbstractList, or other skeletal
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implementations, ensuring minimum effort to provide custom
functionality.
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Example:
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23. Spliterator
Description:
A Spliterator is a special iterator for traversing and partitioning
elements, supporting parallelism (used heavily in Java Streams API
introduced in Java 8).
Example:
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24. NavigableMap Methods with Submaps
Description:
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NavigableMap methods allow precise range views via subMap(), headMap(),
and tailMap() that can be bounded inclusively or exclusively.
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Example:
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25. Collectors and Streams Integration
Description:
With the introduction of Java 8, the Collections Framework
integrates closely with the Streams API. Streams allow you to
process collections in a functional-style (filter, map, reduce) and
use collectors for gathering results into lists, sets, maps, and even
custom collections.
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Example (Collecting to Map and Filtering):
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26. Collection Views (keySet, entrySet, values)
Description:
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Maps allow you to view their content as separate collections—for
keys (keySet()), values (values()), or entries (entrySet()). These
"views" are backed collections, providing dynamic linkage to the
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map.
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Example:
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27. RandomAccess Interface
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A marker interface for lists that support fast (generally
constant-time) random access, like ArrayList. Used by algorithms
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to optimize behavior depending on collection type.
Example:
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28. ArrayList vs. LinkedList vs. Vector
Description:
Although all are list implementations, their performance
characteristics differ:
● ArrayList: Fast random access, resizing may be expensive, not
synchronized.
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● LinkedList: Fast insertions/deletions in middle, no fast
random access.
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● Vector: Synchronized version of ArrayList, legacy class.
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Example (Demonstration):
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29. Fail-Fast and Fail-Safe Iterators
Description:
● Fail-Fast Iterators: Throw ConcurrentModificationException if
the collection is modified outside the iterator during iteration (e.g.,
ArrayList, HashMap)
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● Fail-Safe Iterators: Do not throw exceptions, work on a cloned
collection (CopyOnWriteArrayList, ConcurrentHashMap)
Example (Fail-Fast):
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30. Deep Copy vs. Shallow Copy in Collections
Description:
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● Shallow Copy: Copies the reference of objects (e.g., using
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clone() on ArrayList).
● Deep Copy: Duplicates the actual objects by copying all
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nested objects.
Example (Shallow Copy):
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