Data Structures 

Use

You can speed up access to elements within a data structure by choosing the most suitable structure for your purpose. The tables list different data structures and specify the operations they are most suited for.

Choosing Data Structures

Ordered Access

If you need a list where you can precisely control the position where each element is inserted or accessed, use one of the data structures recommended in the following table.

 

Data Structure	Suited for
ArrayList	Fast read access
LinkedList	Suitable if manipulation of the list is required, in particular, for insert and remove operations
Array of objects	Fast for a fixed number of elements
Vector	Thread-safe therefore suited for concurrent read or write operations

Random Access

For random access of elements where the key is only permitted one value, use one of the data structures recommended in the table.

 

Data Structure	Suited for
HashMap	Fast element access for a given key
HashSet	Only contains keys. Use if you need to know whether an element is included in a set.
Hashtable	Thread-safe therefore suited for for concurrent read or write operations