Collections In Java.

* Advantages of Collections:-

1)  There is no limitation on the growth of a container, i.e. collection can grow as necessary.

2) It only contains the objects i.e only reference type.

3) Collections can be made Thread Safe i.e. concurrent access can be provided.

4) We can restrict the modification in the available collection.

The earlier versions of JDK does not include Collection Frameworks but the version 1.2 and later has Collection Framework in its java.util package. The collection Framework is the unified architecture of representing and manipulating collections. This manipulation of collections is done independently, this boosts up the performance and accuracy. A framework  mainly consists of the following essential components-

1) Interfaces:- These are the abstract data types used for the representation of the collections. It describes the core collection interfaces.  With the help of interfaces, collections are manipulated independently. With interfaces, Collection can form the hierarchy.

2) Implementations:– This describes the JDK’s general purpose collection implementation and when to use which implementation. They are the reusable data structures with the implementation of the collection interfaces.

3) Algorithms:- Algorithms are used to perform computations, such as searching, sorting etc on the objects that implement collection interfaces. They provide polymorphism i.e. the same method can be used with different implementations of the collection interfaces. It guides the implementation to the correct path that can save computation time with maximum throughput.

4) Utilities: Utility functions such as arrays of primitives and reference objects. This functionality was added to the Java platform as a part of the Collections Framework.

*Advantages of Collection Framework:-

1) Reduces programming effort: CF reduces programming effort providing useful data structures and algorithms and frees you to concentrate on the important parts of your program such as its performance and maintainance rather than on other parts. By facilitating interoperability among unrelated APIs, the Java Collections Framework frees you from writing adapter objects or conversion code to connect APIs.

2) Increases program speed and quality: This Framework provides high-performance, high-quality implementations of your own data structures and algorithms. Also the various implementations of each interface are interchangeable, so programs can be easily tuned by switching collection implementations. It offers many specific implementations of the interfaces, allowing you to choose the collection that is most fitting and offers the highest performance for your needs.

3) Reduces effort to learn and to use new APIs: Many APIs naturally take collections on input and furnish them as output.But with the advent of standard collection interfaces, it is easy to learn and use new APIs. It dramatically increases the readability of your collections by providing a standard set of interfaces to be used by many programmers in many applications.

4) Reduces effort to design new APIs: Developers don’t have to design a brand new code each time they create an API that relies on collections instead, they can use standard collection interfaces.

5) Code Flexibility: It makes your code more flexible by allowing you to pass and return interfaces instead of concrete classes, generalizing your code rather than locking it down.

Hope this will help you.

Thanks,

Nikhil.