Core Java Interview Question

Difference between HashMap and HashTable? Can we make hashmap synchronized?

1. The HashMap class is roughly equivalent to Hashtable, except that it is unsynchronized and permits nulls. ( HashMap allows null values as key and value whereas Hashtable doesn't allow nulls ).
2. HashMap does not guarantee that the order of the map will remain constant over time.
3. HashMap is non synchronized whereas Hashtable is synchronized.
4. Iterator in the HashMap is fail-safe while the enumerator for the Hashtable isn't.

HashMap can be synchronized by

Map m = Collections.synchronizeMap(hashMap);

What is the difference between set and list?

A Set stores elements in an unordered way and does not contain duplicate elements, whereas a list stores elements in an ordered way but may contain duplicate elements.

Difference between Vector and ArrayList? What is the Vector class?

Vector is synchronized whereas ArrayList is not. The Vector class provides the capability to implement a growable array of objects. ArrayList and Vector class both implement the List interface. Both classes are implemented using dynamically resizable arrays, providing fast random access and fast traversal. In vector the data is retrieved using the elementAt() method while in ArrayList, it is done using the get() method. ArrayList has no default size while vector has a default size of 10. when you want programs to run in multithreading environment then use concept of vector because it is synchronized. But ArrayList is not synchronized so, avoid use of it in a multithreading environment.

What is an Iterator interface? Is Iterator a Class or Interface? What is its use?

The Iterator is an interface, used to traverse through the elements of a Collection. It is not advisable to modify the collection itself while traversing an Iterator.

What is the Collections API?

The Collections API is a set of classes and interfaces that support operations on collections of objects.
Example of classes: HashSet, HashMap, ArrayList, LinkedList, TreeSet and TreeMap.
Example of interfaces: Collection, Set, List and Map.

How can we access elements of a collection?

We can access the elements of a collection using the following ways:
1.Every collection object has get(index) method to get the element of the object. This method will return Object.
2.Collection provide Enumeration or Iterator object so that we can get the objects of a collection one by one.

What is difference between array & arraylist?

An ArrayList is resizable, where as, an array is not. ArrayList is a part of the Collection Framework. We can store any type of objects, and we can deal with only objects. It is growable. Array is collection of similar data items. We can have array of primitives or objects. It is of fixed size. We can have multi dimensional arrays.

Array: can store primitive            ArrayList: Stores object only

Array: fix size                            ArrayList: resizable

Array: can have multi dimensional

Array: lang                                 ArrayList: Collection framework