下面这张表格总结了用一个集合能做的所有事情(亦可对Set和List做同样的事情,尽管List还提供了一些额外的功能)。Map不是从Collection继承的,所以要单独对待。
| Boolean add(Object) | *Ensures that the Collection contains the argument. Returns false if it doesn’t add the argument. |
| Boolean addAll(Collection) | *Adds all the elements in the argument. Returns true if any elements were added. |
| void clear( ) | *Removes all the elements in the Collection. |
| Boolean contains(Object) | True if the Collection contains the argument. |
| Boolean containsAll(Collection) | True if the Collection contains all the elements in the argument. |
| Boolean isEmpty( ) | True if the Collection has no elements. |
| Iterator iterator( ) | Returns an Iterator that you can use to move through the elements in the Collection. |
| Boolean remove(Object) | *If the argument is in the Collection, one instance of that element is removed. Returns true if a removal occurred. |
| Boolean removeAll(Collection) | *Removes all the elements that are contained in the argument. Returns true if any removals occurred. |
| Boolean retainAll(Collection) | *Retains only elements that are contained in the argument (an “intersection” from set theory). Returns true if any changes occurred. |
| int size( ) | Returns the number of elements in the Collection. |
| Object[] toArray( ) | Returns an array containing all the elements in the Collection. |
| Object[] toArray(Object[] a) | Returns an array containing all the elements in the Collection, whose type is that of the array a rather than plain Object (you must cast the array to the right type). |
| *This is an “optional” method, which means it might not be implemented by a particular Collection. If not, that method throws an UnsupportedOperationException. Exceptions will be covered in Chapter 9. |
boolean add(Object)
*保证集合内包含了自变量。如果它没有添加自变量,就返回false(假)
boolean addAll(Collection)*添加自变量内的所有元素。如果没有添加元素,则返回true(真)
void clear() *删除集合内的所有元素
boolean contains(Object) 若集合包含自变量,就返回“真”
boolean containsAll(Collection)若集合包含了自变量内的所有元素,就返回“真”
boolean isEmpty() 若集合内没有元素,就返回“真”
Iterator iterator() 返回一个反复器,以用它遍历集合的各元素
boolean remove(Object)*如自变量在集合里,就删除那个元素的一个实例。如果已进行了删除,就返回“真”
boolean removeAll(Collection)*删除自变量里的所有元素。如果已进行了任何删除,就返回“真”
boolean retainAll(Collection)*只保留包含在一个自变量里的元素(一个理论的“交集”)。如果已进行了任何改变,就返回“真”
int size() 返回集合内的元素数量
Object[] toArray() 返回包含了集合内所有元素的一个数组
*这是一个“可选的”方法,有的集合可能并未实现它。若确实如此,该方法就会遇到一个UnsupportedOperatiionException,即一个“操作不支持”违例,详见第9章。
下面这个例子向大家演示了所有方法。同样地,它们只对从集合继承的东西有效,一个ArrayList作为一种“不常用的分母”使用:
//: Collection1.java
// Things you can do with all Collections
package c08.newcollections;
import java.util.*;
public class Collection1 {
// Fill with 'size' elements, start
// counting at 'start':
public static Collection
fill(Collection c, int start, int size) {
for(int i = start; i < start + size; i++)
c.add(Integer.toString(i));
return c;
}
// Default to a "start" of 0:
public static Collection
fill(Collection c, int size) {
return fill(c, 0, size);
}
// Default to 10 elements:
public static Collection fill(Collection c) {
return fill(c, 0, 10);
}
// Create & upcast to Collection:
public static Collection newCollection() {
return fill(new ArrayList());
// ArrayList is used for simplicity, but it's
// only seen as a generic Collection
// everywhere else in the program.
}
// Fill a Collection with a range of values:
public static Collection
newCollection(int start, int size) {
return fill(new ArrayList(), start, size);
}
// Moving through a List with an iterator:
public static void print(Collection c) {
for(Iterator x = c.iterator(); x.hasNext();)
System.out.print(x.next() + " ");
System.out.println();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Collection c = newCollection();
c.add("ten");
c.add("eleven");
print(c);
// Make an array from the List:
Object[] array = c.toArray();
// Make a String array from the List:
String[] str =
(String[])c.toArray(new String[1]);
// Find max and min elements; this means
// different things depending on the way
// the Comparable interface is implemented:
System.out.println("Collections.max(c) = " +
Collections.max(c));
System.out.println("Collections.min(c) = " +
Collections.min(c));
// Add a Collection to another Collection
c.addAll(newCollection());
print(c);
c.remove("3"); // Removes the first one
print(c);
c.remove("3"); // Removes the second one
print(c);
// Remove all components that are in the
// argument collection:
c.removeAll(newCollection());
print(c);
c.addAll(newCollection());
print(c);
// Is an element in this Collection?
System.out.println(
"c.contains(\"4\") = " + c.contains("4"));
// Is a Collection in this Collection?
System.out.println(
"c.containsAll(newCollection()) = " +
c.containsAll(newCollection()));
Collection c2 = newCollection(5, 3);
// Keep all the elements that are in both
// c and c2 (an intersection of sets):
c.retainAll(c2);
print(c);
// Throw away all the elements in c that
// also appear in c2:
c.removeAll(c2);
System.out.println("c.isEmpty() = " +
c.isEmpty());
c = newCollection();
print(c);
c.clear(); // Remove all elements
System.out.println("after c.clear():");
print(c);
}
} ///:~
通过第一个方法,我们可用测试数据填充任何集合。在当前这种情况下,只是将int转换成String。第二个方法将在本章其余的部分经常采用。
newCollection()的两个版本都创建了ArrayList,用于包含不同的数据集,并将它们作为集合对象返回。所以很明显,除了Collection接口之外,不会再用到其他什么。
print()方法也会在本节经常用到。由于它用一个反复器(Iterator)在一个集合内遍历,而任何集合都可以产生这样的一个反复器,所以它适用于List和Set,也适用于由一个Map生成的Collection。
main()用简单的手段显示出了集合内的所有方法。
在后续的小节里,我们将比较List,Set和Map的不同实现方案,同时指出在各种情况下哪一种方案应成为首选(带有星号的那个)。大家会发现这里并未包括一些传统的类,如Vector,Stack以及Hashtable等。因为不管在什么情况下,新集合内都有自己首选的类。