A Java collection of value pairs? (tuples?)

Question

I like how Java has a Map where you can define the types of each entry in the map, for example <String, Integer>.

What I'm looking for is a type of collection where each element in the collection is a pair of values. Each value in the pair can have its own type (like the String and Integer example above), which is defined at declaration time.

The collection will maintain its given order and will not treat one of the values as a unique key (as in a map).

Essentially I want to be able to define an ARRAY of type <String,Integer> or any other 2 types.

I realize that I can make a class with nothing but the 2 variables in it, but that seems overly verbose.

I also realize that I could use a 2D array, but because of the different types I need to use, I'd have to make them arrays of OBJECT, and then I'd have to cast all the time.

I only need to store pairs in the collection, so I only need two values per entry. Does something like this exist without going the class route? Thanks!

Answer 1

You could write a generic Pair<A, B> class and use this in an array or list. Yes, you have to write a class, but you can reuse the same class for all types, so you only have to do it once.

Answer 2

I was going to ask if you would not want to just use a List<Pair<T, U>>? but then, of course, the JDK doesn't have a Pair<> class. But a quick Google found one on both Wikipedia, and forums.sun.com. Cheers

Answer 3

The Pair class is one of those "gimme" generics examples that easy enough to write on your own. For example, off the top of my head:

public class Pair<L,R> {

  private final L left;
  private final R right;

  public Pair<L,R>(L left, R right) {
    this.left = left;
    this.right = right;
  }

  public L getLeft() { return left; }
  public R getRight() { return right; }

  public int hashCode() { return left.hashCode() ^ right.hashCode(); }

  public boolean equals(Object o) {
    if (o == null) return false;
    if (!(o instanceof Pair)) return false;
    Pair pairo = (Pair) o;
    return this.left.equals(pairo.getLeft()) &&
           this.right.equals(pairo.getRight());
  }

}

And yes, this exists in multiple places on the Net, with varying degrees of completeness and feature. (My example above is intended to be immutable.)

Answer 4

You could use

Map<String,Map<Integer,Double>>...

Answer 5

The built in AbstractMap.SimpleEntry or AbstractMap.SimpleImmutableEntry classes are an option, too.

EDIT: removed nonsense about type erasure.

Answer 6

The preferred solution as you've described it is a List of Pairs (i.e. List).

To accomplish this you would create a Pair class for use in your collection. This is a useful utility class to add to your code base.

The closest class in the Sun JDK providing functionality similar to a typical Pair class is AbstractMap.SimpleEntry. You could use this class rather than creating your own Pair class, though you would have to live with some awkward restrictions and I think most people would frown on this as not really the intended role of SimpleEntry. For example SimpleEntry has no "setKey()" method and no default constructor, so you may find it too limiting.

Bear in mind that Collections are designed to contain elements of a single type. Related utility interfaces such as Map are not actually Collections (i.e. Map does not implement the Collection interface). A Pair would not implement the Collection interface either but is obviously a useful class in building larger data structures.