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。