Chapter 12
Generic Programming and Collection Classes
HOW TO AVOID REINVENTING the wheel? Many data
structures and algorithms, such as those from the previous chapter, have been studied,
programmed, and re-programmed by generations of computer science students.
This is a valuable learning experience. Unfortunately, they have also
been programmed and re-programmed by generations of working computer
professionals, taking up time that could be devoted to new, more creative
work. A programmer who needs a list or a binary tree shouldn't have to
re-code these data structures from scratch. They are well-understood and
have been programmed thousands of times before. The problem is how to
make pre-written, robust data structures available to programmers. In this
chapter, we'll look at Java's attempt to address this problem.
Contents of Chapter 12:
