The introduction of the Collections API by Sun in JDK 1.2 has been a
boon to quick and effective Java programming. Ready access to
powerful data structures has accelerated development by reducing the
need for custom container classes around each core object. Most Java2
APIs are significantly easier to use because of the Collections API.
However, there are certain holes left unfilled by Sun's
implementations, and the Jakarta-Commons Collections Component strives
to fulfill them. Among the features of this package are:
- Special-purpose implementations of Lists and Maps for fast
access
- Adapter classes from Java1-style containers (arrays, enumerations)
to Java2-style collections.
- Methods to test or create typical set-theory properties of
collections such as union, intersection, and closure.
