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Skill-Building Exercises

1. API Research:   Research the core collection interfaces provided by the Java platform version 1.4.2 collections framework API. Pay particular attention to the methods published by each collection interface and subinterface. Note the optional methods.

2. API Research:   Research the general purpose implementation classes provided by the Java platform version 1.4.2 collections framework. Answer the following questions for each class:

   1. Does the collection extend an abstract class, implement a core collection interface, or both?

   2. What methods, if any, does the collection class implement in addition to those of its base class or interface?

   3. Describe the general performance characteristics of the collection class’s underlying data structure.

3. API Research:   Research the core collection interfaces provided by the Java platform version 5 collections framework API. Pay particular attention to the methods published by each collection interface and subinterface. Note the optional methods.

4. API Research:   Research the general purpose implementation classes provided by the Java platform version 5 collections framework. Answer the following questions for each class:

   1. Does the collection extend an abstract class, implement a core collection interface, or both?

   2. What methods, if any, does the collection class implement in addition to those of its base class or interface?

   3. Describe the general performance characteristics of the collection class’s underlying data structure.

5. Research Generics:   Obtain and study Gilad Bracha’s paper titled Generics in the Java Programming Language. You should be able to find this paper easily on the Web.

6. Programming:   Write several short programs that utilize some of the collections classes not formally discussed in this chapter.

7. Algorithms:   Study the static methods supplied by the Collections class. List each method and write a brief description of its functionality.