jdk/src/share/classes/java/util/List.java

/*
 * Copyright 1997-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
 * have any questions.
 */

package java.util;

/**
 * An ordered collection (also known as a <i>sequence</i>).  The user of this
 * interface has precise control over where in the list each element is
 * inserted.  The user can access elements by their integer index (position in
 * the list), and search for elements in the list.<p>
 *
 * Unlike sets, lists typically allow duplicate elements.  More formally,
 * lists typically allow pairs of elements <tt>e1</tt> and <tt>e2</tt>
 * such that <tt>e1.equals(e2)</tt>, and they typically allow multiple
 * null elements if they allow null elements at all.  It is not inconceivable
 * that someone might wish to implement a list that prohibits duplicates, by
 * throwing runtime exceptions when the user attempts to insert them, but we
 * expect this usage to be rare.<p>
 *
 * The <tt>List</tt> interface places additional stipulations, beyond those
 * specified in the <tt>Collection</tt> interface, on the contracts of the
 * <tt>iterator</tt>, <tt>add</tt>, <tt>remove</tt>, <tt>equals</tt>, and
 * <tt>hashCode</tt> methods.  Declarations for other inherited methods are
 * also included here for convenience.<p>
 *
 * The <tt>List</tt> interface provides four methods for positional (indexed)
 * access to list elements.  Lists (like Java arrays) are zero based.  Note
 * that these operations may execute in time proportional to the index value
 * for some implementations (the <tt>LinkedList</tt> class, for
 * example). Thus, iterating over the elements in a list is typically
 * preferable to indexing through it if the caller does not know the
 * implementation.<p>
 *
 * The <tt>List</tt> interface provides a special iterator, called a
 * <tt>ListIterator</tt>, that allows element insertion and replacement, and
 * bidirectional access in addition to the normal operations that the
 * <tt>Iterator</tt> interface provides.  A method is provided to obtain a
 * list iterator that starts at a specified position in the list.<p>
 *
 * The <tt>List</tt> interface provides two methods to search for a specified
 * object.  From a performance standpoint, these methods should be used with
 * caution.  In many implementations they will perform costly linear
 * searches.<p>
 *
 * The <tt>List</tt> interface provides two methods to efficiently insert and
 * remove multiple elements at an arbitrary point in the list.<p>
 *
 * Note: While it is permissible for lists to contain themselves as elements,
 * extreme caution is advised: the <tt>equals</tt> and <tt>hashCode</tt>
 * methods are no longer well defined on such a list.
 *
 * <p>Some list implementations have restrictions on the elements that
 * they may contain.  For example, some implementations prohibit null elements,
 * and some have restrictions on the types of their elements.  Attempting to
 * add an ineligible element throws an unchecked exception, typically
 * <tt>NullPointerException</tt> or <tt>ClassCastException</tt>.  Attempting
 * to query the presence of an ineligible element may throw an exception,
 * or it may simply return false; some implementations will exhibit the former
 * behavior and some will exhibit the latter.  More generally, attempting an
 * operation on an ineligible element whose completion would not result in
 * the insertion of an ineligible element into the list may throw an
 * exception or it may succeed, at the option of the implementation.
 * Such exceptions are marked as "optional" in the specification for this
 * interface.
 *
 * <p>This interface is a member of the
 * <a href="{@docRoot}/../technotes/guides/collections/index.html">
 * Java Collections Framework</a>.
 *
 * @author  Josh Bloch
 * @author  Neal Gafter
 * @see Collection
 * @see Set
 * @see ArrayList
 * @see LinkedList
 * @see Vector
 * @see Arrays#asList(Object[])
 * @see Collections#nCopies(int, Object)
 * @see Collections#EMPTY_LIST
 * @see AbstractList
 * @see AbstractSequentialList
 * @since 1.2
 */

public interface List<E> extends Collection<E> {
    // Query Operations

    /**
     * Returns the number of elements in this list.  If this list contains
     * more than <tt>Integer.MAX_VALUE</tt> elements, returns
     * <tt>Integer.MAX_VALUE</tt>.
     *
     * @return the number of elements in this list
     */
    int size();

    /**
     * Returns <tt>true</tt> if this list contains no elements.
     *
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list contains no elements
     */
    boolean isEmpty();

    /**
     * Returns <tt>true</tt> if this list contains the specified element.
     * More formally, returns <tt>true</tt> if and only if this list contains
     * at least one element <tt>e</tt> such that
     * <tt>(o==null&nbsp;?&nbsp;e==null&nbsp;:&nbsp;o.equals(e))</tt>.
     *
     * @param o element whose presence in this list is to be tested
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list contains the specified element
     * @throws ClassCastException if the type of the specified element
     *         is incompatible with this list (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this
     *         list does not permit null elements (optional)
     */
    boolean contains(Object o);

    /**
     * Returns an iterator over the elements in this list in proper sequence.
     *
     * @return an iterator over the elements in this list in proper sequence
     */
    Iterator<E> iterator();

    /**
     * Returns an array containing all of the elements in this list in proper
     * sequence (from first to last element).
     *
     * <p>The returned array will be "safe" in that no references to it are
     * maintained by this list.  (In other words, this method must
     * allocate a new array even if this list is backed by an array).
     * The caller is thus free to modify the returned array.
     *
     * <p>This method acts as bridge between array-based and collection-based
     * APIs.
     *
     * @return an array containing all of the elements in this list in proper
     *         sequence
     * @see Arrays#asList(Object[])
     */
    Object[] toArray();

    /**
     * Returns an array containing all of the elements in this list in
     * proper sequence (from first to last element); the runtime type of
     * the returned array is that of the specified array.  If the list fits
     * in the specified array, it is returned therein.  Otherwise, a new
     * array is allocated with the runtime type of the specified array and
     * the size of this list.
     *
     * <p>If the list fits in the specified array with room to spare (i.e.,
     * the array has more elements than the list), the element in the array
     * immediately following the end of the list is set to <tt>null</tt>.
     * (This is useful in determining the length of the list <i>only</i> if
     * the caller knows that the list does not contain any null elements.)
     *
     * <p>Like the {@link #toArray()} method, this method acts as bridge between
     * array-based and collection-based APIs.  Further, this method allows
     * precise control over the runtime type of the output array, and may,
     * under certain circumstances, be used to save allocation costs.
     *
     * <p>Suppose <tt>x</tt> is a list known to contain only strings.
     * The following code can be used to dump the list into a newly
     * allocated array of <tt>String</tt>:
     *
     * <pre>
     *     String[] y = x.toArray(new String[0]);</pre>
     *
     * Note that <tt>toArray(new Object[0])</tt> is identical in function to
     * <tt>toArray()</tt>.
     *
     * @param a the array into which the elements of this list are to
     *          be stored, if it is big enough; otherwise, a new array of the
     *          same runtime type is allocated for this purpose.
     * @return an array containing the elements of this list
     * @throws ArrayStoreException if the runtime type of the specified array
     *         is not a supertype of the runtime type of every element in
     *         this list
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified array is null
     */
    <T> T[] toArray(T[] a);


    // Modification Operations

    /**
     * Appends the specified element to the end of this list (optional
     * operation).
     *
     * <p>Lists that support this operation may place limitations on what
     * elements may be added to this list.  In particular, some
     * lists will refuse to add null elements, and others will impose
     * restrictions on the type of elements that may be added.  List
     * classes should clearly specify in their documentation any restrictions
     * on what elements may be added.
     *
     * @param e element to be appended to this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> (as specified by {@link Collection#add})
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>add</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of the specified element
     *         prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this
     *         list does not permit null elements
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of this element
     *         prevents it from being added to this list
     */
    boolean add(E e);

    /**
     * Removes the first occurrence of the specified element from this list,
     * if it is present (optional operation).  If this list does not contain
     * the element, it is unchanged.  More formally, removes the element with
     * the lowest index <tt>i</tt> such that
     * <tt>(o==null&nbsp;?&nbsp;get(i)==null&nbsp;:&nbsp;o.equals(get(i)))</tt>
     * (if such an element exists).  Returns <tt>true</tt> if this list
     * contained the specified element (or equivalently, if this list changed
     * as a result of the call).
     *
     * @param o element to be removed from this list, if present
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list contained the specified element
     * @throws ClassCastException if the type of the specified element
     *         is incompatible with this list (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this
     *         list does not permit null elements (optional)
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>remove</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     */
    boolean remove(Object o);


    // Bulk Modification Operations

    /**
     * Returns <tt>true</tt> if this list contains all of the elements of the
     * specified collection.
     *
     * @param  c collection to be checked for containment in this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list contains all of the elements of the
     *         specified collection
     * @throws ClassCastException if the types of one or more elements
     *         in the specified collection are incompatible with this
     *         list (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified collection contains one
     *         or more null elements and this list does not permit null
     *         elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null
     * @see #contains(Object)
     */
    boolean containsAll(Collection<?> c);

    /**
     * Appends all of the elements in the specified collection to the end of
     * this list, in the order that they are returned by the specified
     * collection's iterator (optional operation).  The behavior of this
     * operation is undefined if the specified collection is modified while
     * the operation is in progress.  (Note that this will occur if the
     * specified collection is this list, and it's nonempty.)
     *
     * @param c collection containing elements to be added to this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list changed as a result of the call
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>addAll</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of an element of the specified
     *         collection prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified collection contains one
     *         or more null elements and this list does not permit null
     *         elements, or if the specified collection is null
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of an element of the
     *         specified collection prevents it from being added to this list
     * @see #add(Object)
     */
    boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c);

    /**
     * Inserts all of the elements in the specified collection into this
     * list at the specified position (optional operation).  Shifts the
     * element currently at that position (if any) and any subsequent
     * elements to the right (increases their indices).  The new elements
     * will appear in this list in the order that they are returned by the
     * specified collection's iterator.  The behavior of this operation is
     * undefined if the specified collection is modified while the
     * operation is in progress.  (Note that this will occur if the specified
     * collection is this list, and it's nonempty.)
     *
     * @param index index at which to insert the first element from the
     *              specified collection
     * @param c collection containing elements to be added to this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list changed as a result of the call
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>addAll</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of an element of the specified
     *         collection prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified collection contains one
     *         or more null elements and this list does not permit null
     *         elements, or if the specified collection is null
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of an element of the
     *         specified collection prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is out of range
     *         (<tt>index &lt; 0 || index &gt; size()</tt>)
     */
    boolean addAll(int index, Collection<? extends E> c);

    /**
     * Removes from this list all of its elements that are contained in the
     * specified collection (optional operation).
     *
     * @param c collection containing elements to be removed from this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list changed as a result of the call
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>removeAll</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of an element of this list
     *         is incompatible with the specified collection (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if this list contains a null element and the
     *         specified collection does not permit null elements (optional),
     *         or if the specified collection is null
     * @see #remove(Object)
     * @see #contains(Object)
     */
    boolean removeAll(Collection<?> c);

    /**
     * Retains only the elements in this list that are contained in the
     * specified collection (optional operation).  In other words, removes
     * from this list all of its elements that are not contained in the
     * specified collection.
     *
     * @param c collection containing elements to be retained in this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if this list changed as a result of the call
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>retainAll</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of an element of this list
     *         is incompatible with the specified collection (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if this list contains a null element and the
     *         specified collection does not permit null elements (optional),
     *         or if the specified collection is null
     * @see #remove(Object)
     * @see #contains(Object)
     */
    boolean retainAll(Collection<?> c);

    /**
     * Removes all of the elements from this list (optional operation).
     * The list will be empty after this call returns.
     *
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>clear</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     */
    void clear();


    // Comparison and hashing

    /**
     * Compares the specified object with this list for equality.  Returns
     * <tt>true</tt> if and only if the specified object is also a list, both
     * lists have the same size, and all corresponding pairs of elements in
     * the two lists are <i>equal</i>.  (Two elements <tt>e1</tt> and
     * <tt>e2</tt> are <i>equal</i> if <tt>(e1==null ? e2==null :
     * e1.equals(e2))</tt>.)  In other words, two lists are defined to be
     * equal if they contain the same elements in the same order.  This
     * definition ensures that the equals method works properly across
     * different implementations of the <tt>List</tt> interface.
     *
     * @param o the object to be compared for equality with this list
     * @return <tt>true</tt> if the specified object is equal to this list
     */
    boolean equals(Object o);

    /**
     * Returns the hash code value for this list.  The hash code of a list
     * is defined to be the result of the following calculation:
     * <pre>
     *  int hashCode = 1;
     *  for (E e : list)
     *      hashCode = 31*hashCode + (e==null ? 0 : e.hashCode());
     * </pre>
     * This ensures that <tt>list1.equals(list2)</tt> implies that
     * <tt>list1.hashCode()==list2.hashCode()</tt> for any two lists,
     * <tt>list1</tt> and <tt>list2</tt>, as required by the general
     * contract of {@link Object#hashCode}.
     *
     * @return the hash code value for this list
     * @see Object#equals(Object)
     * @see #equals(Object)
     */
    int hashCode();


    // Positional Access Operations

    /**
     * Returns the element at the specified position in this list.
     *
     * @param index index of the element to return
     * @return the element at the specified position in this list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is out of range
     *         (<tt>index &lt; 0 || index &gt;= size()</tt>)
     */
    E get(int index);

    /**
     * Replaces the element at the specified position in this list with the
     * specified element (optional operation).
     *
     * @param index index of the element to replace
     * @param element element to be stored at the specified position
     * @return the element previously at the specified position
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>set</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of the specified element
     *         prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and
     *         this list does not permit null elements
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of the specified
     *         element prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is out of range
     *         (<tt>index &lt; 0 || index &gt;= size()</tt>)
     */
    E set(int index, E element);

    /**
     * Inserts the specified element at the specified position in this list
     * (optional operation).  Shifts the element currently at that position
     * (if any) and any subsequent elements to the right (adds one to their
     * indices).
     *
     * @param index index at which the specified element is to be inserted
     * @param element element to be inserted
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>add</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws ClassCastException if the class of the specified element
     *         prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and
     *         this list does not permit null elements
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of the specified
     *         element prevents it from being added to this list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is out of range
     *         (<tt>index &lt; 0 || index &gt; size()</tt>)
     */
    void add(int index, E element);

    /**
     * Removes the element at the specified position in this list (optional
     * operation).  Shifts any subsequent elements to the left (subtracts one
     * from their indices).  Returns the element that was removed from the
     * list.
     *
     * @param index the index of the element to be removed
     * @return the element previously at the specified position
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the <tt>remove</tt> operation
     *         is not supported by this list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is out of range
     *         (<tt>index &lt; 0 || index &gt;= size()</tt>)
     */
    E remove(int index);


    // Search Operations

    /**
     * Returns the index of the first occurrence of the specified element
     * in this list, or -1 if this list does not contain the element.
     * More formally, returns the lowest index <tt>i</tt> such that
     * <tt>(o==null&nbsp;?&nbsp;get(i)==null&nbsp;:&nbsp;o.equals(get(i)))</tt>,
     * or -1 if there is no such index.
     *
     * @param o element to search for
     * @return the index of the first occurrence of the specified element in
     *         this list, or -1 if this list does not contain the element
     * @throws ClassCastException if the type of the specified element
     *         is incompatible with this list (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this
     *         list does not permit null elements (optional)
     */
    int indexOf(Object o);

    /**
     * Returns the index of the last occurrence of the specified element
     * in this list, or -1 if this list does not contain the element.
     * More formally, returns the highest index <tt>i</tt> such that
     * <tt>(o==null&nbsp;?&nbsp;get(i)==null&nbsp;:&nbsp;o.equals(get(i)))</tt>,
     * or -1 if there is no such index.
     *
     * @param o element to search for
     * @return the index of the last occurrence of the specified element in
     *         this list, or -1 if this list does not contain the element
     * @throws ClassCastException if the type of the specified element
     *         is incompatible with this list (optional)
     * @throws NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this
     *         list does not permit null elements (optional)
     */
    int lastIndexOf(Object o);


    // List Iterators

    /**
     * Returns a list iterator over the elements in this list (in proper
     * sequence).
     *
     * @return a list iterator over the elements in this list (in proper
     *         sequence)
     */
    ListIterator<E> listIterator();

    /**
     * Returns a list iterator over the elements in this list (in proper
     * sequence), starting at the specified position in the list.
     * The specified index indicates the first element that would be
     * returned by an initial call to {@link ListIterator#next next}.
     * An initial call to {@link ListIterator#previous previous} would
     * return the element with the specified index minus one.
     *
     * @param index index of the first element to be returned from the
     *        list iterator (by a call to {@link ListIterator#next next})
     * @return a list iterator over the elements in this list (in proper
     *         sequence), starting at the specified position in the list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException if the index is out of range
     *         ({@code index < 0 || index > size()})
     */
    ListIterator<E> listIterator(int index);

    // View

    /**
     * Returns a view of the portion of this list between the specified
     * <tt>fromIndex</tt>, inclusive, and <tt>toIndex</tt>, exclusive.  (If
     * <tt>fromIndex</tt> and <tt>toIndex</tt> are equal, the returned list is
     * empty.)  The returned list is backed by this list, so non-structural
     * changes in the returned list are reflected in this list, and vice-versa.
     * The returned list supports all of the optional list operations supported
     * by this list.<p>
     *
     * This method eliminates the need for explicit range operations (of
     * the sort that commonly exist for arrays).  Any operation that expects
     * a list can be used as a range operation by passing a subList view
     * instead of a whole list.  For example, the following idiom
     * removes a range of elements from a list:
     * <pre>
     *      list.subList(from, to).clear();
     * </pre>
     * Similar idioms may be constructed for <tt>indexOf</tt> and
     * <tt>lastIndexOf</tt>, and all of the algorithms in the
     * <tt>Collections</tt> class can be applied to a subList.<p>
     *
     * The semantics of the list returned by this method become undefined if
     * the backing list (i.e., this list) is <i>structurally modified</i> in
     * any way other than via the returned list.  (Structural modifications are
     * those that change the size of this list, or otherwise perturb it in such
     * a fashion that iterations in progress may yield incorrect results.)
     *
     * @param fromIndex low endpoint (inclusive) of the subList
     * @param toIndex high endpoint (exclusive) of the subList
     * @return a view of the specified range within this list
     * @throws IndexOutOfBoundsException for an illegal endpoint index value
     *         (<tt>fromIndex &lt; 0 || toIndex &gt; size ||
     *         fromIndex &gt; toIndex</tt>)
     */
    List<E> subList(int fromIndex, int toIndex);
}