LinkedHashMap

<p>Hash table and linked list implementation of the <tt>Map</tt> interface, with predictable iteration order. This implementation differs from <tt>HashMap</tt> in that it maintains a doubly-linked list running through all of its entries. This linked list defines the iteration ordering, which is normally the order in which keys were inserted into the map (<i>insertion-order</i>). Note that insertion order is not affected if a key is <i>re-inserted</i> into the map. (A key <tt>k</tt> is reinserted into a map <tt>m</tt> if <tt>m.put(k, v)</tt> is invoked when <tt>m.containsKey(k)</tt> would return <tt>true</tt> immediately prior to the invocation.)

<p>This implementation spares its clients from the unspecified, generally chaotic ordering provided by {@link HashMap} (and {@link Hashtable}), without incurring the increased cost associated with {@link TreeMap}. It can be used to produce a copy of a map that has the same order as the original, regardless of the original map's implementation: <pre> void foo(Map m) { Map copy = new LinkedHashMap(m); ... } </pre> This technique is particularly useful if a module takes a map on input, copies it, and later returns results whose order is determined by that of the copy. (Clients generally appreciate having things returned in the same order they were presented.)

<p>A special {@link #LinkedHashMap(int,float,bool) constructor} is provided to create a linked hash map whose order of iteration is the order in which its entries were last accessed, from least-recently accessed to most-recently (<i>access-order</i>). This kind of map is well-suited to building LRU caches. Invoking the {@code put}, {@code putIfAbsent}, {@code get}, {@code getOrDefault}, {@code compute}, {@code computeIfAbsent}, {@code computeIfPresent}, or {@code merge} methods results in an access to the corresponding entry (assuming it exists after the invocation completes). The {@code replace} methods only result in an access of the entry if the value is replaced. The {@code putAll} method generates one entry access for each mapping in the specified map, in the order that key-value mappings are provided by the specified map's entry set iterator. <i>No other methods generate entry accesses.</i> In particular, operations on collection-views do <i>not</i> affect the order of iteration of the backing map.

<p>The {@link #removeEldestEntry(MapEntry)} method may be overridden to impose a policy for removing stale mappings automatically when new mappings are added to the map.

<p>This class provides all of the optional <tt>Map</tt> operations, and permits null elements. Like <tt>HashMap</tt>, it provides constant-time performance for the basic operations (<tt>add</tt>, <tt>contains</tt> and <tt>remove</tt>), assuming the hash function disperses elements properly among the buckets. Performance is likely to be just slightly below that of <tt>HashMap</tt>, due to the added expense of maintaining the linked list, with one exception: Iteration over the collection-views of a <tt>LinkedHashMap</tt> requires time proportional to the <i>size</i> of the map, regardless of its capacity. Iteration over a <tt>HashMap</tt> is likely to be more expensive, requiring time proportional to its <i>capacity</i>.

<p>A linked hash map has two parameters that affect its performance: <i>initial capacity</i> and <i>load factor</i>. They are defined precisely as for <tt>HashMap</tt>. Note, however, that the penalty for choosing an excessively high value for initial capacity is less severe for this class than for <tt>HashMap</tt>, as iteration times for this class are unaffected by capacity.

<p><strong>Note that this implementation is not synchronized.</strong> If multiple threads access a linked hash map concurrently, and at least one of the threads modifies the map structurally, it <em>must</em> be synchronized externally. This is typically accomplished by synchronizing on some object that naturally encapsulates the map.

If no such object exists, the map should be "wrapped" using the {@link Collections#synchronizedMap Collections.synchronizedMap} method. This is best done at creation time, to prevent accidental unsynchronized access to the map:<pre> Map m = Collections.synchronizedMap(new LinkedHashMap(...));</pre>

A structural modification is any operation that adds or deletes one or more mappings or, in the case of access-ordered linked hash maps, affects iteration order. In insertion-ordered linked hash maps, merely changing the value associated with a key that is already contained in the map is not a structural modification. <strong>In access-ordered linked hash maps, merely querying the map with <tt>get</tt> is a structural modification. </strong>)

<p>The iterators returned by the <tt>iterator</tt> method of the collections returned by all of this class's collection view methods are <em>fail-fast</em>: if the map is structurally modified at any time after the iterator is created, in any way except through the iterator's own <tt>remove</tt> method, the iterator will throw a {@link ConcurrentModificationException}. Thus, in the face of concurrent modification, the iterator fails quickly and cleanly, rather than risking arbitrary, non-deterministic behavior at an undetermined time in the future.

<p>Note that the fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed as it is, generally speaking, impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification. Fail-fast iterators throw <tt>ConcurrentModificationException</tt> on a best-effort basis. Therefore, it would be wrong to write a program that depended on this exception for its correctness: <i>the fail-fast behavior of iterators should be used only to detect bugs.</i>

<p>The spliterators returned by the spliterator method of the collections returned by all of this class's collection view methods are <em><a href="Spliterator.html#binding">late-binding</a></em>, <em>fail-fast</em>, and additionally report {@link Spliterator#ORDERED}.

<p>This class is a member of the <a href="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/collections/index.html"> Java Collections Framework</a>.

@implNote The spliterators returned by the spliterator method of the collections returned by all of this class's collection view methods are created from the iterators of the corresponding collections.

@param (K) the type of keys maintained by this map @param (V) the type of mapped values

@author Josh Bloch @see Object#hashCode() @see Collection @see Map @see HashMap @see TreeMap @see Hashtable