The following information was included in this chapter:
an overview of the collections framework in the java.util package: core interfaces and their implementations .
discussion of the functionality specified by the Collection interface and its role in the collections framework.
discussion of sets, how their functionality is defined by the Set interface and implemented by HashSet and LinkedHashSet .
discussion of lists, how their functionality is defined by the List interface and implemented by ArrayList , Vector , and LinkedList .
discussion of maps, how their functionality is defined by the Map interface and implemented by HashMap , LinkedHashMap , and Hashtable .
the role of the Comparator and Comparable interfaces for ordering of elements.
discussion of sorted sets and sorted maps, how their functionality is defined by the SortedSet and SortedMap interfaces and implemented by TreeSet and TreeMap .
customizing collections for synchronization and data immutability .
an overview of utility methods found in the Collections and Arrays class.
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