OpenJDK 1.22 · java.util.Collection · APIdia, the JavaDoc alternative

The root interface in the collection hierarchy. A collection represents a group of objects, known as its elements. Some collections allow duplicate elements and others do not. Some are ordered, and others are unordered. Collections that have a defined encounter order are generally subtypes of the SequencedCollection interface. The JDK does not provide any direct implementations of this interface: it provides implementations of more specific subinterfaces like Set and List. This interface is typically used to pass collections around and manipulate them where maximum generality is desired.

Bags or multisets (unordered collections that may contain duplicate elements) should implement this interface directly.

All general-purpose Collection implementation classes (which typically implement Collection indirectly through one of its subinterfaces) should provide two "standard" constructors: a void (no arguments) constructor, which creates an empty collection, and a constructor with a single argument of type Collection, which creates a new collection with the same elements as its argument. In effect, the latter constructor allows the user to copy any collection, producing an equivalent collection of the desired implementation type. There is no way to enforce this convention (as interfaces cannot contain constructors) but all of the general-purpose Collection implementations in the Java platform libraries comply.

Certain methods are specified to be optional. If a collection implementation doesn't implement a particular operation, it should define the corresponding method to throw UnsupportedOperationException. Such methods are marked "optional operation" in method specifications of the collections interfaces.

Some collection implementations have restrictions on the elements that they may contain. For example, some implementations prohibit null elements, and some have restrictions on the types of their elements. Attempting to add an ineligible element throws an unchecked exception, typically NullPointerException or ClassCastException. Attempting to query the presence of an ineligible element may throw an exception, or it may simply return false; some implementations will exhibit the former behavior and some will exhibit the latter. More generally, attempting an operation on an ineligible element whose completion would not result in the insertion of an ineligible element into the collection may throw an exception or it may succeed, at the option of the implementation. Such exceptions are marked as "optional" in the specification for this interface.

It is up to each collection to determine its own synchronization policy. In the absence of a stronger guarantee by the implementation, undefined behavior may result from the invocation of any method on a collection that is being mutated by another thread; this includes direct invocations, passing the collection to a method that might perform invocations, and using an existing iterator to examine the collection.

Many methods in Collections Framework interfaces are defined in terms of the equals method. For example, the specification for the contains(Object o) method says: "returns true if and only if this collection contains at least one element e such that (o==null ? e==null : o.equals(e))." This specification should not be construed to imply that invoking Collection.contains with a non-null argument o will cause o.equals(e) to be invoked for any element e. Implementations are free to implement optimizations whereby the equals invocation is avoided, for example, by first comparing the hash codes of the two elements. (The Object#hashCode() specification guarantees that two objects with unequal hash codes cannot be equal.) More generally, implementations of the various Collections Framework interfaces are free to take advantage of the specified behavior of underlying Object methods wherever the implementor deems it appropriate.

Some collection operations which perform recursive traversal of the collection may fail with an exception for self-referential instances where the collection directly or indirectly contains itself. This includes the clone(), equals(), hashCode() and toString() methods. Implementations may optionally handle the self-referential scenario, however most current implementations do not do so.

View Collections

Most collections manage storage for elements they contain. By contrast, view collections themselves do not store elements, but instead they rely on a backing collection to store the actual elements. Operations that are not handled by the view collection itself are delegated to the backing collection. Examples of view collections include the wrapper collections returned by methods such as Collections.checkedCollection, Collections.synchronizedCollection, and Collections.unmodifiableCollection. Other examples of view collections include collections that provide a different representation of the same elements, for example, as provided by List.subList, NavigableSet.subSet, Map.entrySet, or SequencedCollection.reversed. Any changes made to the backing collection are visible in the view collection. Correspondingly, any changes made to the view collection — if changes are permitted — are written through to the backing collection. Although they technically aren't collections, instances of Iterator and ListIterator can also allow modifications to be written through to the backing collection, and in some cases, modifications to the backing collection will be visible to the Iterator during iteration.

Unmodifiable Collections

Certain methods of this interface are considered "destructive" and are called "mutator" methods in that they modify the group of objects contained within the collection on which they operate. They can be specified to throw UnsupportedOperationException if this collection implementation does not support the operation. Such methods should (but are not required to) throw an UnsupportedOperationException if the invocation would have no effect on the collection. For example, consider a collection that does not support the add operation. What will happen if the addAll method is invoked on this collection, with an empty collection as the argument? The addition of zero elements has no effect, so it is permissible for this collection simply to do nothing and not to throw an exception. However, it is recommended that such cases throw an exception unconditionally, as throwing only in certain cases can lead to programming errors.

An unmodifiable collection is a collection, all of whose mutator methods (as defined above) are specified to throw UnsupportedOperationException. Such a collection thus cannot be modified by calling any methods on it. For a collection to be properly unmodifiable, any view collections derived from it must also be unmodifiable. For example, if a List is unmodifiable, the List returned by List.subList is also unmodifiable.

An unmodifiable collection is not necessarily immutable. If the contained elements are mutable, the entire collection is clearly mutable, even though it might be unmodifiable. For example, consider two unmodifiable lists containing mutable elements. The result of calling list1.equals(list2) might differ from one call to the next if the elements had been mutated, even though both lists are unmodifiable. However, if an unmodifiable collection contains all immutable elements, it can be considered effectively immutable.

Unmodifiable View Collections

An unmodifiable view collection is a collection that is unmodifiable and that is also a view onto a backing collection. Its mutator methods throw UnsupportedOperationException, as described above, while reading and querying methods are delegated to the backing collection. The effect is to provide read-only access to the backing collection. This is useful for a component to provide users with read access to an internal collection, while preventing them from modifying such collections unexpectedly. Examples of unmodifiable view collections are those returned by the Collections.unmodifiableCollection, Collections.unmodifiableList, and related methods.

Note that changes to the backing collection might still be possible, and if they occur, they are visible through the unmodifiable view. Thus, an unmodifiable view collection is not necessarily immutable. However, if the backing collection of an unmodifiable view is effectively immutable, or if the only reference to the backing collection is through an unmodifiable view, the view can be considered effectively immutable.

Serializability of Collections

Serializability of collections is optional. As such, none of the collections interfaces are declared to implement the java.io.Serializable interface. However, serializability is regarded as being generally useful, so most collection implementations are serializable.

The collection implementations that are public classes (such as ArrayList or HashMap) are declared to implement the Serializable interface if they are in fact serializable. Some collections implementations are not public classes, such as the unmodifiable collections. In such cases, the serializability of such collections is described in the specification of the method that creates them, or in some other suitable place. In cases where the serializability of a collection is not specified, there is no guarantee about the serializability of such collections. In particular, many view collections are not serializable, even if the original collection is serializable.

A collection implementation that implements the Serializable interface cannot be guaranteed to be serializable. The reason is that in general, collections contain elements of other types, and it is not possible to determine statically whether instances of some element type are actually serializable. For example, consider a serializable Collection<E>, where E does not implement the Serializable interface. The collection may be serializable, if it contains only elements of some serializable subtype of E, or if it is empty. Collections are thus said to be conditionally serializable, as the serializability of the collection as a whole depends on whether the collection itself is serializable and on whether all contained elements are also serializable.

An additional case occurs with instances of SortedSet and SortedMap. These collections can be created with a Comparator that imposes an ordering on the set elements or map keys. Such a collection is serializable only if the provided Comparator is also serializable.

This interface is a member of the Java Collections Framework.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call add(E element whose presence in this collection is to be ensured e) Ensures that this collection contains the specified element (optional operation).
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call addAll(Collection<? extends E> collection containing elements to be added to this collection c) Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this collection (optional operation).
public void	clear() Removes all of the elements from this collection (optional operation).
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection contains the specified element contains(Object element whose presence in this collection is to be tested o) Returns `true` if this collection contains the specified element.
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection containsAll(Collection<?> collection to be checked for containment in this collection c) Returns `true` if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection.
public boolean	Returns: `true` if the specified object is equal to this collection equals(Object object to be compared for equality with this collection o) Compares the specified object with this collection for equality.
public int	Returns: the hash code value for this collection hashCode() Returns the hash code value for this collection.
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection contains no elements isEmpty() Returns `true` if this collection contains no elements.
public Iterator<E>	Returns: an `Iterator` over the elements in this collection iterator() Redeclares java.lang.Iterable.iterator. Returns an iterator over the elements in this collection.
public default Stream<E>	Returns: a possibly parallel `Stream` over the elements in this collection parallelStream() Returns a possibly parallel `Stream` with this collection as its source.
public boolean	Returns: `true` if an element was removed as a result of this call remove(Object element to be removed from this collection, if present o) Removes a single instance of the specified element from this collection, if it is present (optional operation).
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call removeAll(Collection<?> collection containing elements to be removed from this collection c) Removes all of this collection's elements that are also contained in the specified collection (optional operation).
public default boolean	Returns: `true` if any elements were removed removeIf(Predicate<? super E> a predicate which returns `true` for elements to be removed filter) Removes all of the elements of this collection that satisfy the given predicate (optional operation).
public boolean	Returns: `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call retainAll(Collection<?> collection containing elements to be retained in this collection c) Retains only the elements in this collection that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation).
public int	Returns: the number of elements in this collection size() Returns the number of elements in this collection.
public default Spliterator<E>	Returns: a `Spliterator` over the elements in this collection spliterator() Overrides default java.lang.Iterable.spliterator. Creates a `Spliterator` over the elements in this collection.
public default Stream<E>	Returns: a sequential `Stream` over the elements in this collection stream() Returns a sequential `Stream` with this collection as its source.
public Object[]	Returns: an array, whose runtime component type is `Object`, containing all of the elements in this collection toArray() Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection.
public < the component type of the array to contain the collection T> T[]	Returns: an array containing all of the elements in this collection toArray(T[] the array into which the elements of this collection are to be stored, if it is big enough; otherwise, a new array of the same runtime type is allocated for this purpose. a) Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array.
public default < the component type of the array to contain the collection T> T[]	Returns: an array containing all of the elements in this collection toArray(IntFunction<T[]> a function which produces a new array of the desired type and the provided length generator) Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection, using the provided `generator` function to allocate the returned array.

Inherited from java.lang.Iterable:: forEach

Method Detail

add back to summary

add	back to summary
public boolean add(E e) Ensures that this collection contains the specified element (optional operation). Returns `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call. (Returns `false` if this collection does not permit duplicates and already contains the specified element.) Collections that support this operation may place limitations on what elements may be added to this collection. In particular, some collections will refuse to add `null` elements, and others will impose restrictions on the type of elements that may be added. Collection classes should clearly specify in their documentation any restrictions on what elements may be added. If a collection refuses to add a particular element for any reason other than that it already contains the element, it must throw an exception (rather than returning `false`). This preserves the invariant that a collection always contains the specified element after this call returns. Parameters e:E element whose presence in this collection is to be ensured Returns:boolean `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call Exceptions UnsupportedOperationException: if the `add` operation is not supported by this collection ClassCastException: if the class of the specified element prevents it from being added to this collection NullPointerException: if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements IllegalArgumentException: if some property of the element prevents it from being added to this collection IllegalStateException: if the element cannot be added at this time due to insertion restrictions

public boolean add(E e)

Ensures that this collection contains the specified element (optional operation). Returns true if this collection changed as a result of the call. (Returns false if this collection does not permit duplicates and already contains the specified element.)

Collections that support this operation may place limitations on what elements may be added to this collection. In particular, some collections will refuse to add null elements, and others will impose restrictions on the type of elements that may be added. Collection classes should clearly specify in their documentation any restrictions on what elements may be added.

If a collection refuses to add a particular element for any reason other than that it already contains the element, it must throw an exception (rather than returning false). This preserves the invariant that a collection always contains the specified element after this call returns.

Parameters

e:E: element whose presence in this collection is to be ensured

Returns:boolean

true if this collection changed as a result of the call

Exceptions

UnsupportedOperationException:: if the add operation is not supported by this collection
ClassCastException:: if the class of the specified element prevents it from being added to this collection
NullPointerException:: if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements
IllegalArgumentException:: if some property of the element prevents it from being added to this collection
IllegalStateException:: if the element cannot be added at this time due to insertion restrictions

addAll back to summary

addAll	back to summary
public boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c) Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this collection (optional operation). The behavior of this operation is undefined if the specified collection is modified while the operation is in progress. (This implies that the behavior of this call is undefined if the specified collection is this collection, and this collection is nonempty.) If the specified collection has a defined encounter order, processing of its elements generally occurs in that order. Parameters c:Collection<? extends E> collection containing elements to be added to this collection Returns:boolean `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call Exceptions UnsupportedOperationException: if the `addAll` operation is not supported by this collection ClassCastException: if the class of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this collection NullPointerException: if the specified collection contains a null element and this collection does not permit null elements, or if the specified collection is null IllegalArgumentException: if some property of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this collection IllegalStateException: if not all the elements can be added at this time due to insertion restrictions See Also `add(Object)`

public boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c)

Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this collection (optional operation). The behavior of this operation is undefined if the specified collection is modified while the operation is in progress. (This implies that the behavior of this call is undefined if the specified collection is this collection, and this collection is nonempty.) If the specified collection has a defined encounter order, processing of its elements generally occurs in that order.

Parameters

c:Collection<? extends E>: collection containing elements to be added to this collection

Returns:boolean

true if this collection changed as a result of the call

Exceptions

UnsupportedOperationException:: if the addAll operation is not supported by this collection
ClassCastException:: if the class of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this collection
NullPointerException:: if the specified collection contains a null element and this collection does not permit null elements, or if the specified collection is null
IllegalArgumentException:: if some property of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this collection
IllegalStateException:: if not all the elements can be added at this time due to insertion restrictions

See Also

add(Object)

clear back to summary

clear	back to summary
public void clear() Removes all of the elements from this collection (optional operation). The collection will be empty after this method returns. Exceptions UnsupportedOperationException: if the `clear` operation is not supported by this collection

public void clear()

Removes all of the elements from this collection (optional operation). The collection will be empty after this method returns.

Exceptions

UnsupportedOperationException:: if the clear operation is not supported by this collection

contains back to summary

contains	back to summary
public boolean contains(Object o) Returns `true` if this collection contains the specified element. More formally, returns `true` if and only if this collection contains at least one element `e` such that `Objects.equals(o, e)`. Parameters o:Object element whose presence in this collection is to be tested Returns:boolean `true` if this collection contains the specified element Exceptions ClassCastException: if the type of the specified element is incompatible with this collection (optional) NullPointerException: if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements (optional)

public boolean contains(Object o)

Returns true if this collection contains the specified element. More formally, returns true if and only if this collection contains at least one element e such that Objects.equals(o, e).

Parameters

o:Object: element whose presence in this collection is to be tested

Returns:boolean

true if this collection contains the specified element

Exceptions

ClassCastException:: if the type of the specified element is incompatible with this collection (optional)
NullPointerException:: if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements (optional)

containsAll back to summary

containsAll	back to summary
public boolean containsAll(Collection<?> c) Returns `true` if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection. Parameters c:Collection<?> collection to be checked for containment in this collection Returns:boolean `true` if this collection contains all of the elements in the specified collection Exceptions ClassCastException: if the types of one or more elements in the specified collection are incompatible with this collection (optional) NullPointerException: if the specified collection contains one or more null elements and this collection does not permit null elements (optional) or if the specified collection is null. See Also `contains(Object)`

public boolean containsAll(Collection<?> c)

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

Parameters

c:Collection<?>: collection to be checked for containment in this collection

Returns:boolean

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

Exceptions

ClassCastException:: if the types of one or more elements in the specified collection are incompatible with this collection (optional)
NullPointerException:: if the specified collection contains one or more null elements and this collection does not permit null elements (optional) or if the specified collection is null.

See Also

contains(Object)

equals back to summary

equals	back to summary
public boolean equals(Object o) Compares the specified object with this collection for equality. While the `Collection` interface adds no stipulations to the general contract for the `Object.equals`, programmers who implement the `Collection` interface "directly" (in other words, create a class that is a `Collection` but is not a `Set` or a `List`) must exercise care if they choose to override the `Object.equals`. It is not necessary to do so, and the simplest course of action is to rely on `Object`'s implementation, but the implementor may wish to implement a "value comparison" in place of the default "reference comparison." (The `List` and `Set` interfaces mandate such value comparisons.) The general contract for the `Object.equals` method states that equals must be symmetric (in other words, `a.equals(b)` if and only if `b.equals(a)`). The contracts for `List.equals` and `Set.equals` state that lists are only equal to other lists, and sets to other sets. Thus, a custom `equals` method for a collection class that implements neither the `List` nor `Set` interface must return `false` when this collection is compared to any list or set. (By the same logic, it is not possible to write a class that correctly implements both the `Set` and `List` interfaces.) Parameters o:Object object to be compared for equality with this collection Returns:boolean `true` if the specified object is equal to this collection See Also `Object#equals(Object)`, `Set#equals(Object)`, `List#equals(Object)`

public boolean equals(Object o)

Compares the specified object with this collection for equality.

While the Collection interface adds no stipulations to the general contract for the Object.equals, programmers who implement the Collection interface "directly" (in other words, create a class that is a Collection but is not a Set or a List) must exercise care if they choose to override the Object.equals. It is not necessary to do so, and the simplest course of action is to rely on Object's implementation, but the implementor may wish to implement a "value comparison" in place of the default "reference comparison." (The List and Set interfaces mandate such value comparisons.)

The general contract for the Object.equals method states that equals must be symmetric (in other words, a.equals(b) if and only if b.equals(a)). The contracts for List.equals and Set.equals state that lists are only equal to other lists, and sets to other sets. Thus, a custom equals method for a collection class that implements neither the List nor Set interface must return false when this collection is compared to any list or set. (By the same logic, it is not possible to write a class that correctly implements both the Set and List interfaces.)

Parameters

o:Object: object to be compared for equality with this collection

Returns:boolean

true if the specified object is equal to this collection

hashCode back to summary

hashCode	back to summary
public int hashCode() Returns the hash code value for this collection. While the `Collection` interface adds no stipulations to the general contract for the `Object.hashCode` method, programmers should take note that any class that overrides the `Object.equals` method must also override the `Object.hashCode` method in order to satisfy the general contract for the `Object.hashCode` method. In particular, `c1.equals(c2)` implies that `c1.hashCode()==c2.hashCode()`. Returns:int the hash code value for this collection See Also `Object#hashCode()`, `Object#equals(Object)`

public int hashCode()

Returns the hash code value for this collection. While the Collection interface adds no stipulations to the general contract for the Object.hashCode method, programmers should take note that any class that overrides the Object.equals method must also override the Object.hashCode method in order to satisfy the general contract for the Object.hashCode method. In particular, c1.equals(c2) implies that c1.hashCode()==c2.hashCode().

Returns:int: the hash code value for this collection
See Also: Object#hashCode(), Object#equals(Object)

isEmpty back to summary

isEmpty	back to summary
public boolean isEmpty() Returns `true` if this collection contains no elements. Returns:boolean `true` if this collection contains no elements

public boolean isEmpty()

Returns true if this collection contains no elements.

Returns:boolean: true if this collection contains no elements

iterator back to summary

iterator	back to summary
public Iterator<E> iterator() Redeclares java.lang.Iterable.iterator. Returns an iterator over the elements in this collection. There are no guarantees concerning the order in which the elements are returned (unless this collection is an instance of some class that provides a guarantee). Returns:Iterator<E> an `Iterator` over the elements in this collection

public Iterator<E> iterator()

Redeclares java.lang.Iterable.iterator.

Returns an iterator over the elements in this collection. There are no guarantees concerning the order in which the elements are returned (unless this collection is an instance of some class that provides a guarantee).

Returns:Iterator<E>: an Iterator over the elements in this collection

parallelStream back to summary

parallelStream	back to summary
public default Stream<E> parallelStream() Returns a possibly parallel `Stream` with this collection as its source. It is allowable for this method to return a sequential stream. This method should be overridden when the `spliterator()` method cannot return a spliterator that is `IMMUTABLE`, `CONCURRENT`, or late-binding. (See `spliterator()` for details.) Implementation Specification The default implementation creates a parallel `Stream` from the collection's `Spliterator`. Returns:Stream<E> a possibly parallel `Stream` over the elements in this collection Since 1.8

public default Stream<E> parallelStream()

Returns a possibly parallel Stream with this collection as its source. It is allowable for this method to return a sequential stream.

This method should be overridden when the spliterator() method cannot return a spliterator that is IMMUTABLE, CONCURRENT, or late-binding. (See spliterator() for details.)

Implementation Specification

The default implementation creates a parallel Stream from the collection's Spliterator.

Returns:Stream<E>: a possibly parallel Stream over the elements in this collection
Since: 1.8

remove back to summary

remove	back to summary
public boolean remove(Object o) Removes a single instance of the specified element from this collection, if it is present (optional operation). More formally, removes an element `e` such that `Objects.equals(o, e)`, if this collection contains one or more such elements. Returns `true` if this collection contained the specified element (or equivalently, if this collection changed as a result of the call). Parameters o:Object element to be removed from this collection, if present Returns:boolean `true` if an element was removed as a result of this call Exceptions ClassCastException: if the type of the specified element is incompatible with this collection (optional) NullPointerException: if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements (optional) UnsupportedOperationException: if the `remove` operation is not supported by this collection

public boolean remove(Object o)

Removes a single instance of the specified element from this collection, if it is present (optional operation). More formally, removes an element e such that Objects.equals(o, e), if this collection contains one or more such elements. Returns true if this collection contained the specified element (or equivalently, if this collection changed as a result of the call).

Parameters

o:Object: element to be removed from this collection, if present

Returns:boolean

true if an element was removed as a result of this call

Exceptions

ClassCastException:: if the type of the specified element is incompatible with this collection (optional)
NullPointerException:: if the specified element is null and this collection does not permit null elements (optional)
UnsupportedOperationException:: if the remove operation is not supported by this collection

removeAll back to summary

removeAll	back to summary
public boolean removeAll(Collection<?> c) Removes all of this collection's elements that are also contained in the specified collection (optional operation). After this call returns, this collection will contain no elements in common with the specified collection. Parameters c:Collection<?> collection containing elements to be removed from this collection Returns:boolean `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call Exceptions UnsupportedOperationException: if the `removeAll` operation is not supported by this collection ClassCastException: if the types of one or more elements in this collection are incompatible with the specified collection (optional) NullPointerException: if this collection contains one or more null elements and the specified collection does not support null elements (optional) or if the specified collection is null See Also `remove(Object)`, `contains(Object)`

public boolean removeAll(Collection<?> c)

Removes all of this collection's elements that are also contained in the specified collection (optional operation). After this call returns, this collection will contain no elements in common with the specified collection.

Parameters

c:Collection<?>: collection containing elements to be removed from this collection

Returns:boolean

true if this collection changed as a result of the call

Exceptions

UnsupportedOperationException:: if the removeAll operation is not supported by this collection
ClassCastException:: if the types of one or more elements in this collection are incompatible with the specified collection (optional)
NullPointerException:: if this collection contains one or more null elements and the specified collection does not support null elements (optional) or if the specified collection is null

See Also

remove(Object), contains(Object)

removeIf back to summary

removeIf	back to summary
public default boolean removeIf(Predicate<? super E> filter) Removes all of the elements of this collection that satisfy the given predicate (optional operation). Errors or runtime exceptions thrown during iteration or by the predicate are relayed to the caller. Implementation Specification The default implementation traverses all elements of the collection using its `iterator`. Each matching element is removed using `Iterator#remove()`. If the collection's iterator does not support removal then an `UnsupportedOperationException` will be thrown on the first matching element. Parameters filter:Predicate<? super E> a predicate which returns `true` for elements to be removed Returns:boolean `true` if any elements were removed Exceptions NullPointerException: if the specified filter is null UnsupportedOperationException: if the `removeIf` operation is not supported by this collection Since 1.8

public default boolean removeIf(Predicate<? super E> filter)

Removes all of the elements of this collection that satisfy the given predicate (optional operation). Errors or runtime exceptions thrown during iteration or by the predicate are relayed to the caller.

Implementation Specification

The default implementation traverses all elements of the collection using its iterator. Each matching element is removed using Iterator#remove(). If the collection's iterator does not support removal then an UnsupportedOperationException will be thrown on the first matching element.

Parameters

filter:Predicate<? super E>: a predicate which returns true for elements to be removed

Returns:boolean

true if any elements were removed

Exceptions

NullPointerException:: if the specified filter is null
UnsupportedOperationException:: if the removeIf operation is not supported by this collection

Since

1.8

retainAll back to summary

retainAll	back to summary
public boolean retainAll(Collection<?> c) Retains only the elements in this collection that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation). In other words, removes from this collection all of its elements that are not contained in the specified collection. Parameters c:Collection<?> collection containing elements to be retained in this collection Returns:boolean `true` if this collection changed as a result of the call Exceptions UnsupportedOperationException: if the `retainAll` operation is not supported by this collection ClassCastException: if the types of one or more elements in this collection are incompatible with the specified collection (optional) NullPointerException: if this collection contains one or more null elements and the specified collection does not permit null elements (optional) or if the specified collection is null See Also `remove(Object)`, `contains(Object)`

public boolean retainAll(Collection<?> c)

Retains only the elements in this collection that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation). In other words, removes from this collection all of its elements that are not contained in the specified collection.

Parameters

c:Collection<?>: collection containing elements to be retained in this collection

Returns:boolean

true if this collection changed as a result of the call

Exceptions

UnsupportedOperationException:: if the retainAll operation is not supported by this collection
ClassCastException:: if the types of one or more elements in this collection are incompatible with the specified collection (optional)
NullPointerException:: if this collection contains one or more null elements and the specified collection does not permit null elements (optional) or if the specified collection is null

See Also

remove(Object), contains(Object)

size back to summary

size	back to summary
public int size() Returns the number of elements in this collection. If this collection contains more than `Integer.MAX_VALUE` elements, returns `Integer.MAX_VALUE`. Returns:int the number of elements in this collection

public int size()

Returns the number of elements in this collection. If this collection contains more than Integer.MAX_VALUE elements, returns Integer.MAX_VALUE.

Returns:int: the number of elements in this collection

spliterator back to summary

spliterator	back to summary
public default Spliterator<E> spliterator() Overrides default java.lang.Iterable.spliterator. Creates a `Spliterator` over the elements in this collection. Implementations should document characteristic values reported by the spliterator. Such characteristic values are not required to be reported if the spliterator reports `Spliterator#SIZED` and this collection contains no elements. The default implementation should be overridden by subclasses that can return a more efficient spliterator. In order to preserve expected laziness behavior for the `stream()` and `parallelStream()` methods, spliterators should either have the characteristic of `IMMUTABLE` or `CONCURRENT`, or be late-binding. If none of these is practical, the overriding class should describe the spliterator's documented policy of binding and structural interference, and should override the `stream()` and `parallelStream()` methods to create streams using a `Supplier` of the spliterator, as in: `Stream<E> s = StreamSupport.stream(() -> spliterator(), spliteratorCharacteristics)` These requirements ensure that streams produced by the `stream()` and `parallelStream()` methods will reflect the contents of the collection as of initiation of the terminal stream operation. Implementation Specification The default implementation creates a late-binding spliterator from the collection's `Iterator`. The spliterator inherits the fail-fast properties of the collection's iterator. The created `Spliterator` reports `Spliterator#SIZED`. Implementation Note The created `Spliterator` additionally reports `Spliterator#SUBSIZED`. If a spliterator covers no elements then the reporting of additional characteristic values, beyond that of `SIZED` and `SUBSIZED`, does not aid clients to control, specialize or simplify computation. However, this does enable shared use of an immutable and empty spliterator instance (see `Spliterators#emptySpliterator()`) for empty collections, and enables clients to determine if such a spliterator covers no elements. Returns:Spliterator<E> a `Spliterator` over the elements in this collection Annotations @Override Since 1.8

public default Spliterator<E> spliterator()

Overrides default java.lang.Iterable.spliterator.

Creates a Spliterator over the elements in this collection. Implementations should document characteristic values reported by the spliterator. Such characteristic values are not required to be reported if the spliterator reports Spliterator#SIZED and this collection contains no elements.

The default implementation should be overridden by subclasses that can return a more efficient spliterator. In order to preserve expected laziness behavior for the stream() and parallelStream() methods, spliterators should either have the characteristic of IMMUTABLE or CONCURRENT, or be late-binding. If none of these is practical, the overriding class should describe the spliterator's documented policy of binding and structural interference, and should override the stream() and parallelStream() methods to create streams using a Supplier of the spliterator, as in:

Stream<E> s = StreamSupport.stream(() -> spliterator(), spliteratorCharacteristics)

These requirements ensure that streams produced by the stream() and parallelStream() methods will reflect the contents of the collection as of initiation of the terminal stream operation.

Implementation Specification

The default implementation creates a late-binding spliterator from the collection's Iterator. The spliterator inherits the fail-fast properties of the collection's iterator.

The created Spliterator reports Spliterator#SIZED.

Implementation Note

The created Spliterator additionally reports Spliterator#SUBSIZED.

If a spliterator covers no elements then the reporting of additional characteristic values, beyond that of SIZED and SUBSIZED, does not aid clients to control, specialize or simplify computation. However, this does enable shared use of an immutable and empty spliterator instance (see Spliterators#emptySpliterator()) for empty collections, and enables clients to determine if such a spliterator covers no elements.

Returns:Spliterator<E>

a Spliterator over the elements in this collection

Annotations

@Override

Since

1.8

stream back to summary

stream	back to summary
public default Stream<E> stream() Returns a sequential `Stream` with this collection as its source. This method should be overridden when the `spliterator()` method cannot return a spliterator that is `IMMUTABLE`, `CONCURRENT`, or late-binding. (See `spliterator()` for details.) Implementation Specification The default implementation creates a sequential `Stream` from the collection's `Spliterator`. Returns:Stream<E> a sequential `Stream` over the elements in this collection Since 1.8

public default Stream<E> stream()

Returns a sequential Stream with this collection as its source.

This method should be overridden when the spliterator() method cannot return a spliterator that is IMMUTABLE, CONCURRENT, or late-binding. (See spliterator() for details.)

Implementation Specification

The default implementation creates a sequential Stream from the collection's Spliterator.

Returns:Stream<E>: a sequential Stream over the elements in this collection
Since: 1.8

toArray back to summary

toArray	back to summary
public Object[] toArray() 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's runtime component type is `Object`. 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. API Note This method acts as a bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. It returns an array whose runtime type is `Object[]`. Use `toArray(T[])` to reuse an existing array, or use `toArray(IntFunction)` to control the runtime type of the array. Returns:Object[] an array, whose runtime component type is `Object`, containing all of the elements in this collection

public Object[] toArray()

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's runtime component type is Object.

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.

API Note

This method acts as a bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. It returns an array whose runtime type is Object[]. Use toArray(T[]) to reuse an existing array, or use toArray(IntFunction) to control the runtime type of the array.

Returns:Object[]: an array, whose runtime component type is Object, containing all of the elements in this collection

toArray back to summary

toArray	back to summary
public <T> T[] toArray(T[] a) 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. API Note This method acts as a bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. It allows an existing array to be reused under certain circumstances. Use `toArray()` to create an array whose runtime type is `Object[]`, or use `toArray(IntFunction)` to control the runtime type of the array. Suppose `x` is a collection known to contain only strings. The following code can be used to dump the collection into a previously allocated `String` array: String[] y = new String[SIZE]; ... y = x.toArray(y); The return value is reassigned to the variable `y`, because a new array will be allocated and returned if the collection `x` has too many elements to fit into the existing array `y`. Note that `toArray(new Object[0])` is identical in function to `toArray()`. Parameters <T> the component type of the array to contain the collection a:T[] the array into which the elements of this collection are to be stored, if it is big enough; otherwise, a new array of the same runtime type is allocated for this purpose. Returns:T[] an array containing all of the elements in this collection Exceptions ArrayStoreException: if the runtime type of any element in this collection is not assignable to the runtime component type of the specified array NullPointerException: if the specified array is null

public <T> T[] toArray(T[] a)

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.

API Note

This method acts as a bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. It allows an existing array to be reused under certain circumstances. Use toArray() to create an array whose runtime type is Object[], or use toArray(IntFunction) to control the runtime type of the array.

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

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

The return value is reassigned to the variable y, because a new array will be allocated and returned if the collection x has too many elements to fit into the existing array y.

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

Parameters

<T>: the component type of the array to contain the collection
a:T[]: the array into which the elements of this collection are to be stored, if it is big enough; otherwise, a new array of the same runtime type is allocated for this purpose.

Returns:T[]

an array containing all of the elements in this collection

Exceptions

ArrayStoreException:: if the runtime type of any element in this collection is not assignable to the runtime component type of the specified array
NullPointerException:: if the specified array is null

toArray back to summary

toArray	back to summary
public default <T> T[] toArray(IntFunction<T[]> generator) Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection, using the provided `generator` function to allocate the returned array. 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. API Note This method acts as a bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. It allows creation of an array of a particular runtime type. Use `toArray()` to create an array whose runtime type is `Object[]`, or use `toArray(T[])` to reuse an existing array. 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(String[]::new); Implementation Specification The default implementation calls the generator function with zero and then passes the resulting array to `toArray(T[])`. Parameters <T> the component type of the array to contain the collection generator:IntFunction<T[]> a function which produces a new array of the desired type and the provided length Returns:T[] an array containing all of the elements in this collection Exceptions ArrayStoreException: if the runtime type of any element in this collection is not assignable to the runtime component type of the generated array NullPointerException: if the generator function is null Since 11

public default <T> T[] toArray(IntFunction<T[]> generator)

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this collection, using the provided generator function to allocate the returned array.

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.

API Note

This method acts as a bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. It allows creation of an array of a particular runtime type. Use toArray() to create an array whose runtime type is Object[], or use toArray(T[]) to reuse an existing array.

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(String[]::new);

Implementation Specification

The default implementation calls the generator function with zero and then passes the resulting array to toArray(T[]).

Parameters

<T>: the component type of the array to contain the collection
generator:IntFunction<T[]>: a function which produces a new array of the desired type and the provided length

Returns:T[]

an array containing all of the elements in this collection

Exceptions

ArrayStoreException:: if the runtime type of any element in this collection is not assignable to the runtime component type of the generated array
NullPointerException:: if the generator function is null

Since

public Interface Collection<E>

View Collections

Unmodifiable Collections

Unmodifiable View Collections

Serializability of Collections

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