CopyOnWriteArraySet in java

CopyOnWriteArraySet is a Set that uses an internal CopyOnWriteArrayList for all of its operations. It is introduced in JDK 1.5, we can say that it is thread-safe version of Set.
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It share some properties of Set and also has its own properties:

  • The internal implementation of CopyOnWriteArraySet is CopyOnWriteArrayList only.
  • Insertion order is preserved and duplicates are allowed.
  • Multiple Threads are able to perform update operation simultaneously but for every update operation a separate cloned copy is created. As for every update a new cloned copy will be created which is costly. Hence if multiple update operation are required then it is not recommended to use CopyOnWriteArraySet.
  • While one thread iterating the Set, other threads can perform updation, here we wont get any runtime exception like ConcurrentModificationException.
  • Iterator of CopyOnWriteArraySet class can perform only read only and wont perform deletion, otherwise we will get Run-time exception UnsupportedOperationException.

Constructors of CopyOnWriteArraySet:

  • CopyOnWriteArraySet c = new CopyOnWriteArraySet(): Creates an empty set.
  • CopyOnWriteArraySet c = new CopyOnWriteArraySet(Collection c): Creates a set containing all of the elements of the specified collection.

Methods in CopyOnWriteArraySet:

  1. add​(E e): This method Adds the specified element to this set if it is not already present.
  2. addAll​(Collection c): This method Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this set if they’re not already present.
  3. clear​(): This method Removes all of the elements from this set.
  4. contains​(Object o): This method Returns true if this set contains the specified element.
  5. containsAll​(Collection c): This method Returns true if this set contains all of the elements of the specified collection.
  6. equals​(Object o): This method Compares the specified object with this set for equality.
  7. forEach​(Consumer action): This method Performs the given action for each element of the Iterable until all elements have been processed or the action throws an exception.
  8. isEmpty​(): This method Returns true if this set contains no elements.
  9. iterator​(): This method Returns an iterator over the elements contained in this set in the order in which these elements were added.
  10. remove​(Object o): This method Removes the specified element from this set if it is present.
  11. removeAll​(Collection c): This method Removes from this set all of its elements that are contained in the specified collection.
  12. removeIf​(Predicate filter): This method Removes all of the elements of this collection that satisfy the given predicate.
  13. retainAll​(Collection c): This method Retains only the elements in this set that are contained in the specified collection.
  14. size​(): This method Returns the number of elements in this set.
  15. spliterator​(): This method Returns a Spliterator over the elements in this set in the order in which these elements were added.
  16. toArray​(): This method Returns an array containing all of the elements in this set.
  17. toArray​(T[] a): This method Returns an array containing all of the elements in this set; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array.

Example:

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// Java program to illustrate 
// CopyOnWriteArraySet class
import java.util.concurrent.*;
import java.util.*;
  
class ConcurrentDemo extends Thread {
  
    static CopyOnWriteArraySet l = new CopyOnWriteArraySet();
  
    public void run()
    {
        // Child thread trying to add
        // new element in the Set object
        l.add("D");
    }
      
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        l.add("A");
        l.add("B");
        l.add("C");
  
        // We create a child thread 
        // that is going to modify 
        // CopyOnWriteArraySet l.
        ConcurrentDemo t = new ConcurrentDemo();
        t.start();
  
        // Wait for the thread to 
        // add the element.
        try {
            Thread.sleep(2000);
        }
        catch (InterruptedException e) {
            System.out.println("child going to add element");
        }
          
        System.out.println(l);
          
        // Now we iterate through the 
        // CopyOnWriteArraySet and we
        // wont get exception.
        Iterator itr = l.iterator();
        while (itr.hasNext()) 
        {
            String s = (String)itr.next();
            System.out.println(s);
          
            if(s.equals("C"))
            {
                // Here we will get
                // RuntimeException
                itr.remove();
            }
        }
    }
}

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Output:


[A, B, C, D]
A
B
C
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException




          
          
          
          

            

    

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Bishal Kumar Dubey
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