This page summarizes enhancements to the collections framework
in Java SE 6.
This release saw fewer API changes than 5.0, but there was more
of a focus on the accuracy and clarity of the specification. We
recommend using the Java SE 6 specification even when writing
programs for older releases.
The primary theme of the API changes was better
bi-directional collection access.
These new collection interfaces are provided:
Deque
- a double ended queue, supporting element insertion and
removal at both ends. Extends the Queue interface.
BlockingDeque
- a Deque with operations that wait for the deque to
become non-empty when retrieving an element, and wait for space to
become available in the deque when storing an element. Extends both
the Deque
and BlockingQueue
interfaces. (This interface is part of java.util.concurrent.)
NavigableSet -
a SortedSet extended with navigation methods reporting
closest matches for given search targets. A NavigableSet
may be accessed and traversed in either ascending or descending
order. This interface is intended to supersede the
SortedSet interface.
NavigableMap -
a SortedMap extended with navigation methods returning the
closest matches for given search targets. A NavigableMap
may be accessed and traversed in either ascending or descending key
order. This interface is intended to supersede the
SortedMap interface.