Added in API level 1

Set

interface Set<E : Any!> : MutableCollection<E>
java.util.Set

A collection that contains no duplicate elements. More formally, sets contain no pair of elements e1 and e2 such that e1.equals(e2), and at most one null element. As implied by its name, this interface models the mathematical set abstraction.

The Set interface places additional stipulations, beyond those inherited from the Collection interface, on the contracts of all constructors and on the contracts of the add, equals and hashCode methods. Declarations for other inherited methods are also included here for convenience. (The specifications accompanying these declarations have been tailored to the Set interface, but they do not contain any additional stipulations.)

The additional stipulation on constructors is, not surprisingly, that all constructors must create a set that contains no duplicate elements (as defined above).

Note: Great care must be exercised if mutable objects are used as set elements. The behavior of a set is not specified if the value of an object is changed in a manner that affects equals comparisons while the object is an element in the set. A special case of this prohibition is that it is not permissible for a set to contain itself as an element.

Some set implementations have restrictions on the elements that they may contain. For example, some implementations prohibit null elements, and some have restrictions on the types of their elements. Attempting to add an ineligible element throws an unchecked exception, typically NullPointerException or ClassCastException. Attempting to query the presence of an ineligible element may throw an exception, or it may simply return false; some implementations will exhibit the former behavior and some will exhibit the latter. More generally, attempting an operation on an ineligible element whose completion would not result in the insertion of an ineligible element into the set may throw an exception or it may succeed, at the option of the implementation. Such exceptions are marked as "optional" in the specification for this interface.

Unmodifiable Sets

The Set.of and Set.copyOf static factory methods provide a convenient way to create unmodifiable sets. The Set instances created by these methods have the following characteristics:

  • They are unmodifiable. Elements cannot be added or removed. Calling any mutator method on the Set will always cause UnsupportedOperationException to be thrown. However, if the contained elements are themselves mutable, this may cause the Set to behave inconsistently or its contents to appear to change.
  • They disallow null elements. Attempts to create them with null elements result in NullPointerException.
  • They are serializable if all elements are serializable.
  • They reject duplicate elements at creation time. Duplicate elements passed to a static factory method result in IllegalArgumentException.
  • The iteration order of set elements is unspecified and is subject to change.
  • They are value-based. Programmers should treat instances that are #equals(java.lang.Object) as interchangeable and should not use them for synchronization, or unpredictable behavior may occur. For example, in a future release, synchronization may fail. Callers should make no assumptions about the identity of the returned instances. Factories are free to create new instances or reuse existing ones.
  • They are serialized as specified on the Serialized Form page.

This interface is a member of the Java Collections Framework.

Summary

Public methods
abstract Boolean
add(element: E)

Adds the specified element to this set if it is not already present (optional operation).

abstract Boolean
addAll(elements: Collection<E>)

Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this set if they're not already present (optional operation).

abstract Unit

Removes all of the elements from this set (optional operation).

abstract Boolean
contains(element: E?)

Returns true if this set contains the specified element.

abstract Boolean
containsAll(elements: Collection<E>)

Returns true if this set contains all of the elements of the specified collection.

open static MutableSet<E>
copyOf(coll: MutableCollection<out E>)

Returns an unmodifiable Set containing the elements of the given Collection.

abstract Boolean

Returns true if this set contains no elements.

abstract MutableIterator<E>

Returns an iterator over the elements in this set.

open static MutableSet<E>
of()

Returns an unmodifiable set containing zero elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing one element.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing two elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing three elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing four elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E, e5: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing five elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E, e5: E, e6: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing six elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E, e5: E, e6: E, e7: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing seven elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E, e5: E, e6: E, e7: E, e8: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing eight elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E, e5: E, e6: E, e7: E, e8: E, e9: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing nine elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(e1: E, e2: E, e3: E, e4: E, e5: E, e6: E, e7: E, e8: E, e9: E, e10: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing ten elements.

open static MutableSet<E>
of(vararg elements: E)

Returns an unmodifiable set containing an arbitrary number of elements.

abstract Boolean
remove(element: E?)

Removes the specified element from this set if it is present (optional operation).

abstract Boolean
removeAll(elements: Collection<E>)

Removes from this set all of its elements that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation).

abstract Boolean
retainAll(elements: Collection<E>)

Retains only the elements in this set that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation).

open Spliterator<E>

Creates a Spliterator over the elements in this set.

abstract Array<Any!>

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this set.

abstract Array<T>
toArray(a: Array<T>)

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this set; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array.

Properties
abstract Int

Returns the number of elements in this set (its cardinality).

Public methods

add

Added in API level 1
abstract fun add(element: E): Boolean

Adds the specified element to this set if it is not already present (optional operation). More formally, adds the specified element e to this set if the set contains no element e2 such that Objects.equals(e, e2). If this set already contains the element, the call leaves the set unchanged and returns false. In combination with the restriction on constructors, this ensures that sets never contain duplicate elements.

The stipulation above does not imply that sets must accept all elements; sets may refuse to add any particular element, including null, and throw an exception, as described in the specification for Collection.add. Individual set implementations should clearly document any restrictions on the elements that they may contain.

Parameters
e element to be added to this set
Return
Boolean true if this set did not already contain the specified element
Exceptions
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException if the add operation is not supported by this set
java.lang.ClassCastException if the class of the specified element prevents it from being added to this set
java.lang.NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this set does not permit null elements
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if some property of the specified element prevents it from being added to this set
java.lang.IllegalStateException if the element cannot be added at this time due to insertion restrictions

addAll

Added in API level 1
abstract fun addAll(elements: Collection<E>): Boolean

Adds all of the elements in the specified collection to this set if they're not already present (optional operation). If the specified collection is also a set, the addAll operation effectively modifies this set so that its value is the union of the two sets. The behavior of this operation is undefined if the specified collection is modified while the operation is in progress.

Parameters
c collection containing elements to be added to this set
Return
Boolean true if this set changed as a result of the call
Exceptions
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException if the addAll operation is not supported by this set
java.lang.ClassCastException if the class of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this set
java.lang.NullPointerException if the specified collection contains one or more null elements and this set does not permit null elements, or if the specified collection is null
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if some property of an element of the specified collection prevents it from being added to this set
java.lang.IllegalStateException if not all the elements can be added at this time due to insertion restrictions

See Also

clear

Added in API level 1
abstract fun clear(): Unit

Removes all of the elements from this set (optional operation). The set will be empty after this call returns.

Exceptions
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException if the clear method is not supported by this set

contains

Added in API level 1
abstract fun contains(element: E?): Boolean

Returns true if this set contains the specified element. More formally, returns true if and only if this set contains an element e such that Objects.equals(o, e).

Parameters
o element whose presence in this set is to be tested
Return
Boolean true if this set contains the specified element
Exceptions
java.lang.ClassCastException if the type of the specified element is incompatible with this set (optional)
java.lang.NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this set does not permit null elements (optional)

containsAll

Added in API level 1
abstract fun containsAll(elements: Collection<E>): Boolean

Returns true if this set contains all of the elements of the specified collection. If the specified collection is also a set, this method returns true if it is a subset of this set.

Parameters
c collection to be checked for containment in this set
Return
Boolean true if this set contains all of the elements of the specified collection
Exceptions
java.lang.ClassCastException if the types of one or more elements in the specified collection are incompatible with this set (optional)
java.lang.NullPointerException if the specified collection contains one or more null elements and this set does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null

copyOf

Added in API level 31
open static fun <E : Any!> copyOf(coll: MutableCollection<out E>): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable Set containing the elements of the given Collection. The given Collection must not be null, and it must not contain any null elements. If the given Collection contains duplicate elements, an arbitrary element of the duplicates is preserved. If the given Collection is subsequently modified, the returned Set will not reflect such modifications.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
coll MutableCollection<out E>: a Collection from which elements are drawn, must be non-null
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the elements of the given Collection
Exceptions
java.lang.NullPointerException if coll is null, or if it contains any nulls

isEmpty

Added in API level 1
abstract fun isEmpty(): Boolean

Returns true if this set contains no elements.

Return
Boolean true if this set contains no elements

iterator

Added in API level 1
abstract fun iterator(): MutableIterator<E>

Returns an iterator over the elements in this set. The elements are returned in no particular order (unless this set is an instance of some class that provides a guarantee).

Return
MutableIterator<E> an iterator over the elements in this set

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing zero elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
Return
MutableSet<E> an empty Set

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(e1: E): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing one element. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the single element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified element
Exceptions
java.lang.NullPointerException if the element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing two elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if the elements are duplicates
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing three elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing four elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E,
    e5: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing five elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
e5 E: the fifth element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E,
    e5: E,
    e6: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing six elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
e5 E: the fifth element
e6 E: the sixth element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E,
    e5: E,
    e6: E,
    e7: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing seven elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
e5 E: the fifth element
e6 E: the sixth element
e7 E: the seventh element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E,
    e5: E,
    e6: E,
    e7: E,
    e8: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing eight elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
e5 E: the fifth element
e6 E: the sixth element
e7 E: the seventh element
e8 E: the eighth element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E,
    e5: E,
    e6: E,
    e7: E,
    e8: E,
    e9: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing nine elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
e5 E: the fifth element
e6 E: the sixth element
e7 E: the seventh element
e8 E: the eighth element
e9 E: the ninth element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
open static fun <E : Any!> of(
    e1: E,
    e2: E,
    e3: E,
    e4: E,
    e5: E,
    e6: E,
    e7: E,
    e8: E,
    e9: E,
    e10: E
): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing ten elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
e1 E: the first element
e2 E: the second element
e3 E: the third element
e4 E: the fourth element
e5 E: the fifth element
e6 E: the sixth element
e7 E: the seventh element
e8 E: the eighth element
e9 E: the ninth element
e10 E: the tenth element
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null

of

Added in API level 30
@SafeVarargs open static fun <E : Any!> of(vararg elements: E): MutableSet<E>

Returns an unmodifiable set containing an arbitrary number of elements. See Unmodifiable Sets for details.

Parameters
<E> the Set's element type
elements E: the elements to be contained in the set
Return
MutableSet<E> a Set containing the specified elements
Exceptions
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException if there are any duplicate elements
java.lang.NullPointerException if an element is null or if the array is null

remove

Added in API level 1
abstract fun remove(element: E?): Boolean

Removes the specified element from this set if it is present (optional operation). More formally, removes an element e such that Objects.equals(o, e), if this set contains such an element. Returns true if this set contained the element (or equivalently, if this set changed as a result of the call). (This set will not contain the element once the call returns.)

Parameters
o object to be removed from this set, if present
Return
Boolean true if this set contained the specified element
Exceptions
java.lang.ClassCastException if the type of the specified element is incompatible with this set (optional)
java.lang.NullPointerException if the specified element is null and this set does not permit null elements (optional)
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException if the remove operation is not supported by this set

removeAll

Added in API level 1
abstract fun removeAll(elements: Collection<E>): Boolean

Removes from this set all of its elements that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation). If the specified collection is also a set, this operation effectively modifies this set so that its value is the asymmetric set difference of the two sets.

Parameters
c collection containing elements to be removed from this set
Return
Boolean true if this set changed as a result of the call
Exceptions
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException if the removeAll operation is not supported by this set
java.lang.ClassCastException if the class of an element of this set is incompatible with the specified collection (optional)
java.lang.NullPointerException if this set contains a null element and the specified collection does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null

retainAll

Added in API level 1
abstract fun retainAll(elements: Collection<E>): Boolean

Retains only the elements in this set that are contained in the specified collection (optional operation). In other words, removes from this set all of its elements that are not contained in the specified collection. If the specified collection is also a set, this operation effectively modifies this set so that its value is the intersection of the two sets.

Parameters
c collection containing elements to be retained in this set
Return
Boolean true if this set changed as a result of the call
Exceptions
java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException if the retainAll operation is not supported by this set
java.lang.ClassCastException if the class of an element of this set is incompatible with the specified collection (optional)
java.lang.NullPointerException if this set contains a null element and the specified collection does not permit null elements (optional), or if the specified collection is null

See Also

spliterator

Added in API level 24
open fun spliterator(): Spliterator<E>

Creates a Spliterator over the elements in this set.

The Spliterator reports Spliterator#DISTINCT. Implementations should document the reporting of additional characteristic values.

Return
Spliterator<E> a Spliterator over the elements in this set

toArray

Added in API level 1
abstract fun toArray(): Array<Any!>

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this set. If this set makes any guarantees as to what order its elements are returned by its iterator, this method must return the elements in the same order.

The returned array will be "safe" in that no references to it are maintained by this set. (In other words, this method must allocate a new array even if this set is backed by an array). The caller is thus free to modify the returned array.

This method acts as bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs.

Return
Array<Any!> an array containing all the elements in this set

toArray

Added in API level 1
abstract fun <T : Any!> toArray(a: Array<T>): Array<T>

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this set; the runtime type of the returned array is that of the specified array. If the set fits in the specified array, it is returned therein. Otherwise, a new array is allocated with the runtime type of the specified array and the size of this set.

If this set fits in the specified array with room to spare (i.e., the array has more elements than this set), the element in the array immediately following the end of the set is set to null. (This is useful in determining the length of this set only if the caller knows that this set does not contain any null elements.)

If this set makes any guarantees as to what order its elements are returned by its iterator, this method must return the elements in the same order.

Like the toArray() method, this method acts as bridge between array-based and collection-based APIs. Further, this method allows precise control over the runtime type of the output array, and may, under certain circumstances, be used to save allocation costs.

Suppose x is a set known to contain only strings. The following code can be used to dump the set into a newly allocated array of String:

String[] y = x.toArray(new String[0]);
Note that toArray(new Object[0]) is identical in function to toArray().
Parameters
<T> the component type of the array to contain the collection
a Array<T>: the array into which the elements of this set are to be stored, if it is big enough; otherwise, a new array of the same runtime type is allocated for this purpose.
Return
Array<T> an array containing all the elements in this set
Exceptions
java.lang.ArrayStoreException if the runtime type of the specified array is not a supertype of the runtime type of every element in this set
java.lang.NullPointerException if the specified array is null

Properties

size

Added in API level 1
abstract val size: Int

Returns the number of elements in this set (its cardinality). If this set contains more than Integer.MAX_VALUE elements, returns Integer.MAX_VALUE.

Return
Int the number of elements in this set (its cardinality)