Differences Between HashSet and TreeSet in Java Collections

What makes a HashSet different from a TreeSet? I need you to analyze it from the source code perspective.

In Java, both HashSet and TreeSet are part of the Java Collections Framework and implement the Set interface, but they have different underlying data structures and characteristics. Let's analyze the differences between HashSet and TreeSet from a source code perspective.

1. Underlying Data Structure

• HashSet:

  • Internally, HashSet uses a HashMap to store its elements. Each element in the HashSet is stored as a key in the HashMap, with a constant dummy value (usually Boolean.TRUE).
  • The HashMap uses a hash table, which allows for average constant time complexity (O(1)) for basic operations like add, remove, and contains.

• TreeSet:

  • TreeSet is implemented using a TreeMap, which is a Red-Black tree (a type of self-balancing binary search tree).
  • The elements in a TreeSet are stored in a sorted order, which allows for operations like add, remove, and contains to have a time complexity of O(log n).

2. Ordering

• HashSet:

  • Does not guarantee any specific order of its elements. The order can change when elements are added or removed.
  • The order is based on the hash codes of the elements.

• TreeSet:

  • Maintains a sorted order of its elements. The order is determined by the natural ordering of the elements (if they implement Comparable) or by a provided Comparator.
  • This means that when you iterate over a TreeSet, the elements will be returned in sorted order.

3. Performance

• HashSet:

  • Offers constant time performance for basic operations (add, remove, contains) on average.
  • Performance can degrade to O(n) in the worst case if many elements hash to the same bucket (hash collision).

• TreeSet:

  • Offers logarithmic time performance for basic operations (add, remove, contains) due to the underlying tree structure.
  • The performance is more predictable compared to HashSet, but it is generally slower than HashSet for large datasets due to the overhead of maintaining the tree structure.

4. Null Elements

• HashSet:

  • Allows one null element. Since it uses a hash table, it can handle null values without any issues.

• TreeSet:

  • Does not allow null elements if the set is using natural ordering (i.e., if the elements implement Comparable). If a null element is added, it will throw a NullPointerException.
  • If a Comparator is provided that can handle nulls, then it may allow null elements.

5. Source Code Insights

If you look at the source code of HashSet and TreeSet, you will notice the following:

• HashSet:
  • The constructor initializes a HashMap instance.
  • Methods like add, remove, and contains delegate their operations to the corresponding methods of the HashMap.

public class HashSet<E> extends AbstractSet<E> implements Set<E>, Cloneable, Serializable {
    private transient HashMap<E, Object> map;
    private static final Object PRESENT = new Object();

    public HashSet() {
        map = new HashMap<>();
    }

    public boolean add(E e) {
        return map.put(e, PRESENT) == null;
    }
}

• TreeSet:
  • The constructor initializes a TreeMap instance.
  • Methods like add, remove, and contains delegate their operations to the corresponding methods of the TreeMap.

public class TreeSet<E> extends AbstractSet<E> implements NavigableSet<E>, Cloneable, Serializable {
    private transient NavigableMap<E, Object> m;
    private static final Object PRESENT = new Object();

    public TreeSet() {
        m = new TreeMap<>();
    }

    public boolean add(E e) {
        return m.put(e, PRESENT) == null;
    }
}

Summary

In summary, the key differences between HashSet and TreeSet stem from their underlying data structures (HashMap vs. TreeMap), their ordering guarantees (unordered vs. sorted), performance characteristics (O(1) vs. O(log n)), and handling of null elements. Understanding these differences can help you choose the appropriate set implementation based on your specific use case.