What is the difference between set and list?

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Set stores elements in an unordered way but does not contain duplicate elements, whereas list stores elements in an ordered way but may contain duplicate elements.

In Core Java, a set and a list are both interfaces in the Java Collections Framework, and they represent different types of collections with distinct characteristics.

  1. List:
    • Ordering: Lists maintain the order of elements. The order is typically the order in which elements were inserted.
    • Duplicates: Lists allow duplicate elements. You can have the same element multiple times in a list.
    • Access: Elements in a list can be accessed by their index. It means you can retrieve elements based on their position in the list.
    • Implementation Classes: Examples of list implementations include ArrayList and LinkedList.
  2. Set:
    • Ordering: Sets do not guarantee any specific order of elements. The order of elements in a set may vary and is implementation-dependent.
    • Duplicates: Sets do not allow duplicate elements. Each element in a set must be unique.
    • Access: Elements in a set are not directly accessible by index since they don’t have a specific order.
    • Implementation Classes: Examples of set implementations include HashSet and TreeSet.

In summary, the key differences between a set and a list in Core Java are related to ordering, duplicates, and access methods. Lists maintain the order of elements, allow duplicates, and provide direct access by index. On the other hand, sets do not guarantee any specific order, do not allow duplicates, and do not provide direct access by index.