When deciding to use a specific container (List/Set/Map), I like to consider the performance (big-Oh notation) metrics of operations such as insert, delete, get, etc. This is so I can select the best container for my needs.
The API docs always specify synchronized/unsynchronized, but not other performance metrics.
Is there a table of reference anywhere that I can consult?
Java Generics and Collections contains such data for all collection implementations.
If you look at a specific implementation of one of the interfaces, it will give you performance information. Looking at ArrayList for example, you can read this:
The size, isEmpty, get, set, iterator, and listIterator operations run in constant time. The add operation runs in amortized constant time, that is, adding n elements requires O(n) time. All of the other operations run in linear time (roughly speaking). The constant factor is low compared to that for the LinkedList implementation.