LinkedHashSet JDK 1.6)

Description

public class LinkedHashSet

Hash table and linked list implementation of the Set interface, with predictable iteration order.

Hash table and linked list implementation of the Set interface, with predictable iteration order. This implementation differs from HashSet in that it maintains a doubly-linked list running through all of its entries. This linked list defines the iteration ordering, which is the order in which elements were inserted into the set (insertion-order). Note that insertion order is not affected if an element is re-inserted into the set. (An element e is reinserted into a set s if s.add(e) is invoked when s.contains(e) would return true immediately prior to the invocation.)

This implementation spares its clients from the unspecified, generally chaotic ordering provided by HashSet, without incurring the increased cost associated with TreeSet. It can be used to produce a copy of a set that has the same order as the original, regardless of the original set's implementation:

     void foo(Set s) {
         Set copy = new LinkedHashSet(s);
         ...
     }

This technique is particularly useful if a module takes a set on input, copies it, and later returns results whose order is determined by that of the copy. (Clients generally appreciate having things returned in the same order they were presented.)

This class provides all of the optional Set operations, and permits null elements. Like HashSet, it provides constant-time performance for the basic operations (add, contains and remove), assuming the hash function disperses elements properly among the buckets. Performance is likely to be just slightly below that of HashSet, due to the added expense of maintaining the linked list, with one exception: Iteration over a LinkedHashSet requires time proportional to the size of the set, regardless of its capacity. Iteration over a HashSet is likely to be more expensive, requiring time proportional to its capacity.

A linked hash set has two parameters that affect its performance: initial capacity and load factor. They are defined precisely as for HashSet. Note, however, that the penalty for choosing an excessively high value for initial capacity is less severe for this class than for HashSet, as iteration times for this class are unaffected by capacity.

Note that this implementation is not synchronized. If multiple threads access a linked hash set concurrently, and at least one of the threads modifies the set, it must be synchronized externally. This is typically accomplished by synchronizing on some object that naturally encapsulates the set. If no such object exists, the set should be "wrapped" using the Collections.synchronizedSet method. This is best done at creation time, to prevent accidental unsynchronized access to the set:

   Set s = Collections.synchronizedSet(new LinkedHashSet(...));

The iterators returned by this class's iterator method are fail-fast: if the set is modified at any time after the iterator is created, in any way except through the iterator's own remove method, the iterator will throw a ConcurrentModificationException. Thus, in the face of concurrent modification, the iterator fails quickly and cleanly, rather than risking arbitrary, non-deterministic behavior at an undetermined time in the future.

Note that the fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed as it is, generally speaking, impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification. Fail-fast iterators throw ConcurrentModificationException on a best-effort basis. Therefore, it would be wrong to write a program that depended on this exception for its correctness: the fail-fast behavior of iterators should be used only to detect bugs.

This class is a member of the Java Collections Framework.

See also: Object.hashCode() Collection Set HashSet TreeSet Hashtable

Methods

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public boolean add ( E e) [Inherited From HashSet]

Adds the specified element to this set if it is not already present.

public boolean addAll (Collection<Object> c) [Inherited From AbstractCollection]

Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this collection (optional operation).

public void clear () [Inherited From HashSet]

Removes all of the elements from this set.

public Object clone () [Inherited From HashSet]

Returns a shallow copy of this HashSet instance: the elements themselves are not cloned.

public boolean contains (Object o) [Inherited From HashSet]

Returns true if this set contains the specified element.

public boolean containsAll (Collection<Object> c) [Inherited From AbstractCollection]

Returns true if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection.

public boolean equals (Object o) [Inherited From AbstractSet]

Compares the specified object with this set for equality.

public int hashCode () [Inherited From AbstractSet]

Returns the hash code value for this set.

public boolean isEmpty () [Inherited From HashSet]

Returns true if this set contains no elements.

public Iterator< E> iterator () [Inherited From HashSet] [Specified in AbstractCollection]

Returns an iterator over the elements in this set.

public boolean remove (Object o) [Inherited From HashSet]

Removes the specified element from this set if it is present.

public boolean removeAll (Collection<Object> c) [Inherited From AbstractSet]

Removes from this set all of its elements that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation).

public boolean retainAll (Collection<Object> c) [Inherited From AbstractCollection]

Retains only the elements in this collection that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation).

public int size () [Inherited From HashSet] [Specified in AbstractCollection]

Returns the number of elements in this set (its cardinality).

public Object toArray () [Inherited From AbstractCollection]

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection.

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection. If this collection makes any guarantees as to what order its elements are returned by its iterator, this method must return the elements in the same order.

The returned array will be "safe" in that no references to it are maintained by this collection. (In other words, this method must allocate a new array even if this collection is backed by an array). The caller is thus free to modify the returned array.

This method acts as bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs.

This implementation returns an array containing all the elements returned by this collection's iterator, in the same order, stored in consecutive elements of the array, starting with index 0. The length of the returned array is equal to the number of elements returned by the iterator, even if the size of this collection changes during iteration, as might happen if the collection permits concurrent modification during iteration. The size method is called only as an optimization hint; the correct result is returned even if the iterator returns a different number of elements.

This method is equivalent to:

 List<E> list = new ArrayList<E>(size());
 for (E e : this)
     list.add(e);
 return list.toArray();

public T toArray ( T a) [Inherited From AbstractCollection]

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array.

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array. If the collection fits in the specified array, it is returned therein. Otherwise, a new array is allocated with the runtime type of the specified array and the size of this collection.

If this collection fits in the specified array with room to spare (i.e., the array has more elements than this collection), the element in the array immediately following the end of the collection is set to null. (This is useful in determining the length of this collection only if the caller knows that this collection does not contain any null elements.)

If this collection makes any guarantees as to what order its elements are returned by its iterator, this method must return the elements in the same order.

Like the Collection.toArray() method, this method acts as bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. Further, this method allows precise control over the runtime type of the output array, and may, under certain circumstances, be used to save allocation costs.

Suppose x is a collection known to contain only strings. The following code can be used to dump the collection into a newly allocated array of String:

     String[] y = x.toArray(new String[0]);

Note that toArray(new Object[0]) is identical in function to toArray().

This implementation returns an array containing all the elements returned by this collection's iterator in the same order, stored in consecutive elements of the array, starting with index 0. If the number of elements returned by the iterator is too large to fit into the specified array, then the elements are returned in a newly allocated array with length equal to the number of elements returned by the iterator, even if the size of this collection changes during iteration, as might happen if the collection permits concurrent modification during iteration. The size method is called only as an optimization hint; the correct result is returned even if the iterator returns a different number of elements.

This method is equivalent to:

 List<E> list = new ArrayList<E>(size());
 for (E e : this)
     list.add(e);
 return list.toArray(a);

Throws:
- ArrayStoreException - {@inheritDoc}
- NullPointerException - {@inheritDoc}

public String toString () [Inherited From AbstractCollection]

Returns a string representation of this collection.