Summary of Interfaces

The core collection interfaces are the foundation of the Java Collections Framework.

The Java Collections Framework hierarchy consists of two distinct interface trees:

• The first tree starts with the Collection interface, which provides for the basic functionality used by all collections, such as add and remove methods. Its subinterfaces — Set, List, and Queue — provide for more specialized collections.

• The Set interface does not allow duplicate elements. This can be useful for storing collections such as a deck of cards or student records. The Set interface has a subinterface, SortedSet, that provides for ordering of elements in the set.

• The List interface provides for an ordered collection, for situations in which you need precise control over where each element is inserted. You can retrieve elements from a List by their exact position.

• The Queue interface enables additional insertion, extraction, and inspection operations. Elements in a Queue are typically ordered in on a FIFO basis.

• The Deque interface enables insertion, deletion, and inspection operations at both the ends. Elements in a Deque can be used in both LIFO and FIFO.

• The second tree starts with the Map interface, which maps keys and values similar to a Hashtable.

• Map's subinterface, SortedMap, maintains its key-value pairs in ascending order or in an order specified by a Comparator.

These interfaces allow collections to be manipulated independently of the details of their representation.