Beginning Java 7

C H A P T E R  5

Collecting Objects

Applications often must manage collections of objects. Although you can use arrays for this purpose, they are not always a good choice. For example, arrays have fixed sizes, making it tricky to determine an optimal size when you need to store a variable number of objects. Also, arrays can be indexed by integers only, which make them unsuitable for mapping arbitrary objects to other objects.

Java's standard class library provides the Collections Framework and legacy APIs to manage collections on behalf of applications. Chapter 5 first presents this framework, and then introduces you to these legacy APIs (in case you encounter them in legacy code). Because the framework and legacy APIs may not satisfy specific ...