what is java collection

In Java, a collection is a framework that provides an architecture to store and manipulate a group of objects. The Java collections framework is a set of classes and interfaces that implement commonly reusable collection data structures. The framework provides both interfaces (Set, List, Queue, Deque) and classes (ArrayList, Vector, LinkedList, PriorityQueue, HashSet, LinkedHashSet, TreeSet) that can achieve all the operations that you perform on a data such as searching, sorting, insertion, manipulation, and deletion. The Collection interface is the interface that is implemented by all the classes in the collection framework, and it declares the methods that every collection will have. The Java collections framework is not a standalone framework but rather a part of the Java API. The framework consists of collection interfaces, collection implementations, and algorithms. The collection interfaces are divided into two groups: the basic interface, java.util.Collection, and the interfaces based on java.util.Map. The most basic interface, java.util.Collection, has descendants such as Set, List, Queue, and Deque. The other collection interfaces are not true collections but contain collection-view operations that enable them to be manipulated as collections. The Java collections framework is widely used in Java programming, and it is essential to understand the framework to write efficient and effective Java code.