com.google.common.collect
Class ImmutableSortedSet<E>

java.lang.Object
  extended by com.google.common.collect.ImmutableCollection<E>
      extended by com.google.common.collect.ImmutableSortedSet<E>
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable, Iterable<E>, Collection<E>, Set<E>, SortedSet<E>

public abstract class ImmutableSortedSet<E>
extends ImmutableCollection<E>
implements SortedSet<E>

An immutable SortedSet that stores its elements in a sorted array. Some instances are ordered by an explicit comparator, while others follow the natural sort ordering of their elements. Either way, null elements are not supported.

Unlike Collections.unmodifiableSortedSet(java.util.SortedSet), which is a view of a separate collection that can still change, an instance of ImmutableSortedSet contains its own private data and will never change. This class is convenient for public static final sets ("constant sets") and also lets you easily make a "defensive copy" of a set provided to your class by a caller.

The sets returned by headSet(E), tailSet(E), and subSet(E, E) methods share the same array as the original set, preventing that array from being garbage collected. If this is a concern, the data may be copied into a correctly-sized array by calling copyOfSorted(java.util.SortedSet).

Note on element equivalence: The ImmutableCollection.contains(Object), ImmutableCollection.containsAll(Collection), and Object.equals(Object) implementations must check whether a provided object is equivalent to an element in the collection. Unlike most collections, an ImmutableSortedSet doesn't use Object.equals(java.lang.Object) to determine if two elements are equivalent. Instead, with an explicit comparator, the following relation determines whether elements x and y are equivalent:

     {(x, y) | comparator.compare(x, y) == 0}
 

With natural ordering of elements, the following relation determines whether two elements are equivalent:

     {(x, y) | x.compareTo(y) == 0}
 

Warning: Like most sets, an ImmutableSortedSet will not function correctly if an element is modified after being placed in the set. For this reason, and to avoid general confusion, it is strongly recommended to place only immutable objects into this collection.

Note: Although this class is not final, it cannot be subclassed as it has no public or protected constructors. Thus, instances of this type are guaranteed to be immutable.

Author:
Jared Levy
See Also:
ImmutableSet, Serialized Form

Method Summary
 Comparator<? super E> comparator()
          Returns the comparator that orders the elements, which is Comparators.naturalOrder() when the natural ordering of the elements is used.
static
<E> ImmutableSortedSet<E>
copyOf(Comparator<? super E> comparator, Iterable<? extends E> elements)
          Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by the provided comparator.
static
<E extends Comparable>
ImmutableSortedSet<E>
copyOf(Iterable<? extends E> elements)
          Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by their natural ordering.
static
<E> ImmutableSortedSet<E>
copyOfSorted(SortedSet<E> sortedSet)
          Returns an immutable sorted set containing the elements of a sorted set, sorted by the same Comparator.
 ImmutableSortedSet<E> headSet(E toElement)
          
static
<E extends Comparable>
ImmutableSortedSet<E>
of()
          Returns the empty immutable sorted set.
static
<E> ImmutableSortedSet<E>
of(Comparator<? super E> comparator, E... elements)
          Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by the provided comparator.
static
<E extends Comparable>
ImmutableSortedSet<E>
of(E... elements)
          Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by their natural ordering.
 ImmutableSortedSet<E> subSet(E fromElement, E toElement)
          
 ImmutableSortedSet<E> tailSet(E fromElement)
          
 
Methods inherited from class com.google.common.collect.ImmutableCollection
add, addAll, clear, contains, containsAll, remove, removeAll, retainAll, toArray, toArray, toString
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 
Methods inherited from interface java.util.SortedSet
first, last
 
Methods inherited from interface java.util.Set
add, addAll, clear, contains, containsAll, equals, hashCode, isEmpty, iterator, remove, removeAll, retainAll, size, toArray, toArray
 

Method Detail

of

public static <E extends Comparable> ImmutableSortedSet<E> of()
Returns the empty immutable sorted set.

The type specification is <E extends Comparable>, instead of the more specific <E extends Comparable<? super E>>, to support classes defined without generics.


of

public static <E extends Comparable> ImmutableSortedSet<E> of(E... elements)
Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by their natural ordering. When multiple elements are equivalent according to Comparable.compareTo(T), only the first one specified is included.

The type specification is <E extends Comparable>, instead of the more specific <E extends Comparable<? super E>>, to support classes defined without generics.

Throws:
NullPointerException - if any of elements is null

of

public static <E> ImmutableSortedSet<E> of(Comparator<? super E> comparator,
                                           E... elements)
Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by the provided comparator. When multiple elements are equivalent according to the comparator, only the first one specified is included.

Throws:
NullPointerException - if comparator or any of elements is null

copyOf

public static <E extends Comparable> ImmutableSortedSet<E> copyOf(Iterable<? extends E> elements)
Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by their natural ordering. When multiple elements are equivalent according to compareTo(), only the first one specified is included. To create a copy of a SortedSet that preserves the comparator, call copyOfSorted(java.util.SortedSet) instead.

Note that if s is a Set<String>, then ImmutableSortedSet.copyOf(s) returns a ImmutableSortedSet<String> containing each of the strings in s, while ImmutableSortedSet.of(s) returns a ImmutableSortedSet<Set<String>> containing one element (the given set itself).

Note: Despite what the method name suggests, if elements is an ImmutableSortedSet, it may be returned instead of a copy.

The type specification is <E extends Comparable>, instead of the more specific <E extends Comparable<? super E>>, to support classes defined without generics.

Throws:
NullPointerException - if any of elements is null

copyOf

public static <E> ImmutableSortedSet<E> copyOf(Comparator<? super E> comparator,
                                               Iterable<? extends E> elements)
Returns an immutable sorted set containing the given elements sorted by the provided comparator. When multiple elements are equivalent according to the comparator, only the first one specified is included.

Note: Despite what the method name suggests, if elements is an ImmutableSortedSet, it may be returned instead of a copy.

Throws:
NullPointerException - if comparator or any of elements is null

copyOfSorted

public static <E> ImmutableSortedSet<E> copyOfSorted(SortedSet<E> sortedSet)
Returns an immutable sorted set containing the elements of a sorted set, sorted by the same Comparator. That behavior differs from copyOf(Iterable), which always uses the natural ordering of the elements.

Note: Despite what the method name suggests, if sortedSet is an ImmutableSortedSet, it may be returned instead of a copy.

Throws:
NullPointerException - if any of elements is null

comparator

public Comparator<? super E> comparator()
Returns the comparator that orders the elements, which is Comparators.naturalOrder() when the natural ordering of the elements is used. Note that its behavior is not consistent with SortedSet.comparator(), which returns null to indicate natural ordering.

Specified by:
comparator in interface SortedSet<E>

headSet

public ImmutableSortedSet<E> headSet(E toElement)

This method returns a serializable ImmutableSortedSet.

The SortedSet.headSet(E) documentation states that a subset of a subset throws an IllegalArgumentException if passed a toElement greater than an earlier toElement. However, this method doesn't throw an exception in that situation, but instead keeps the original toElement.

Specified by:
headSet in interface SortedSet<E>

subSet

public ImmutableSortedSet<E> subSet(E fromElement,
                                    E toElement)

This method returns a serializable ImmutableSortedSet.

The SortedSet.subSet(E, E) documentation states that a subset of a subset throws an IllegalArgumentException if passed a fromElement smaller than an earlier toElement. However, this method doesn't throw an exception in that situation, but instead keeps the original fromElement. Similarly, this method keeps the original toElement, instead of throwing an exception, if passed a toElement greater than an earlier toElement.

Specified by:
subSet in interface SortedSet<E>

tailSet

public ImmutableSortedSet<E> tailSet(E fromElement)

This method returns a serializable ImmutableSortedSet.

The SortedSet.tailSet(E) documentation states that a subset of a subset throws an IllegalArgumentException if passed a fromElement smaller than an earlier fromElement. However, this method doesn't throw an exception in that situation, but instead keeps the original fromElement.

Specified by:
tailSet in interface SortedSet<E>