craterdog.collections.interfaces

Interface Associative<K,V>

Type Parameters:

K - the key type.

V - the value type.

All Known Implementing Classes:

Dictionary, Map

public interface Associative<K,V>

This interface defines the methods that must be implemented by each collection that associates a set of keys with a set of values.

Author:

Derk Norton

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
void	associateKeyWithValue(K key, V value) This method associates in this collection a new value with a key.
Accessible<Association<K,V>>	getAssociations() This method returns the list of associations between keys and values for this collection.
Accessible<K>	getKeys() This method returns the list of keys for the associations in this collection.
V	getValueForKey(K key) This method returns the value associated with the specified key.
Accessible<V>	getValues() This method returns the list of values for the associations in this collection.
V	removeValueForKey(K key) This method removes from this collection the value associated with a key.

Method Detail

getKeys

Accessible<K> getKeys()

This method returns the list of keys for the associations in this collection.

Returns:

The keys for this collection.

getValues

Accessible<V> getValues()

This method returns the list of values for the associations in this collection.

Returns:

The values for this collection.

getAssociations

Accessible<Association<K,V>> getAssociations()

This method returns the list of associations between keys and values for this collection.

Returns:

A list of the key/value associations that make up this collection.

getValueForKey

V getValueForKey(K key)

This method returns the value associated with the specified key.

Parameters:

key - The key for the value to be retrieved.

Returns:

The value associated with the key.

associateKeyWithValue

void associateKeyWithValue(K key,
                           V value)

This method associates in this collection a new value with a key. If there is already a value associated with the specified key, the new value replaces the old value.

Parameters:

key - The key for the new value.

value - The new value to be associated with the key.

removeValueForKey

V removeValueForKey(K key)

This method removes from this collection the value associated with a key. If no value is associated with the specified key then null is returned.

Parameters:

key - The key for the value to be removed.

Returns:

The value associated with the key.