Collections

Creating efficient, effective code requires the ability to organize data. One way to manage and manipulate groups of data is through collections, which are data structures (ordered groups of objects) that enable you to store, access, and modify multiple pieces of data as a single unit. Some underlying collection types that we address in this chapter are arrays, arraylists, and dictionaries.

The unique characteristics of these collection types make them most suitable for specific kinds of tasks:

• Arrays provide a straightforward, fixed-size structure to manage ordered data.

• Arraylists offer more flexibility than arrays by allowing dynamic resizing while maintaining order, making them especially useful when the size of the data set is uncertain.

• Dictionaries enable you to store and retrieve data using unique keys, allowing for fast lookups based on meaningful identifiers rather than just numerical indexes.