Sun Certification Training Guide (310-025, 310-027): Java™ 2 Programmer and Developer Exams

The Collections API

The classes and interfaces of the Collections API provide an implementation-independent framework for manipulating collections of objects. You will first review the pre-JDK 1.2 collections classes and interfaces, and then you will cover the newer classes and interfaces introduced with JDK 1.2.

Pre-JDK 1.2 Collections Classes and Interfaces

JDK 1.1 provided the Enumeration interface and the following six classes for working with collections of objects:

• Vector— An expandable array of objects

• Stack— A last-in, first-out stack of objects

• BitSet— An expandable bit vector

• Dictionary— A list of key-value pairs

• Hastable— A dictionary that implements a hash table

• Properties— A hash table that provides the capability to associate a ...