When it comes to Arraylist and Vector, you are talking about a profoundly interesting subject. This is largely because as you get closer to the true surface of this question, you are going to notice some compelling similarities between the two. However, at the same time, you are also going to notice some differences between Arraylist and Vector.
In order to have a full picture of what these entities bring to the table, it is going to be important to treat the question of the difference between Arraylist and Vector very seriously.
What Are The Similarities Between Arraylist And Vector?
To begin with, let’s take a look at some of the similarities between Arraylist and Vector.
When it comes to the internal data structure, you are going to find that Arraylist and Vector utilize what is known as Array. This is perhaps the most significant similarity between the two. Both are also essential to maintaining insertion order. Another similarity may strike you as a little strange, but it is worth noting nonetheless. Both processes are going to prove to be absolutely critical in a wide variety of situations. However, you will also want to note that each of these things are crucial to entirely different situations.
This is one of the differences between Vector and Arraylist. Just keep in mind that it is not the only difference.
What Are Some Of The Differences Between Arraylist And Vector?
With Arraylist, you are talking about something that is not synchronized. This provides a stark contrast to Vector, which is indeed synchronized. With Arraylist, while you are talking about something that is not inherently synchronized, you can manipulate things to a certain extent to change this. If this is something that interests you, it is worth researching it in greater detail.
The issue of increments is another difference that is worth taking to heart. With Arraylist, you are talking about something that is running at increments 50% of whatever the array size might be. Furthermore, you will want to note that this is contingent upon the moment in which the number of element has exceeded the capacity. When it comes to Vector, you have something that increments 100%, which will mean double the array size. This only occurs when the element has exceeded the capacity.
Legacy class is yet another compelling element to the story of Arraylist vs. Vector. As you may or may not know, Arraylist is not part of the legacy class. The truth of the matter is that Arraylist was released in conjunction with the release of JDK 1.2. With Vector, the difference is clear. You are going to want to be aware of the fact that Vector is indeed a member of the legacy class.
What about speed? This is certainly a crucial element that can certainly establish a clear difference between these things. Arraylist is fast. This is due to the fact that Arraylist is not synchronized. This is perhaps a tradeoff of some kind. While the fact that Arraylist is not synchronized is something that may strike you as problematic (or good, depending on who you are), yet you cannot disregard the potential value of the speed. After all, when it comes to Vector, you are talking about something that is going to be considered very slow. For example, if you are talking about a multithreading environment, you’re going to find it holding the rest of the threads in runnable or non-runnable states. This will continue to occur until your current thread has released your lock object.
The interface element is the final consideration to this larger issue of differences. When it comes to traversing the elements, you will want to focus on the way Arraylist is going to start working with the Iterator interface. With Vector, you are going to find that it is working with Enumeration, in terms of traversing with the elements. However, this doesn’t mean that it is impossible to find Vector working with Iterator. In certain situations, you are going to find that it can work with Iterator just fine.
In Conclusion
In order to appreciate the differences between Vector and Arraylist, you are naturally going to want to see them side-by-side. There are a number of places in which you can find the ability to do this. You will notice that the differences between these things can be a little confusing to the layperson. Nonetheless, they are differences that are going to be worth observing. This can prove to be crucial towards making sure you have chosen correctly, when it comes to addressing one situation or another.
The relationship between these things is complicated, to be sure. At the end of the day, you are going to want to take both the similarities and differences in equal measures. These differences can provide you with a clear indication of what you need to do next.
