Comparing objects: lists and maps

[LucasH]

Hi guys! I'm having a big problem (both from a programmatic and efficiency point of view). Let me show you my problem.
On my application, I mainly work with the following object:
Name
"Page"
Attributes
String url
String extraParameters
int depth

On my application, there's a method that needs to check if Page objects from list "A" are on list "B". The way to know this is through their String url attribute. Example

ArrayList A
- Object1: attributeA, attributeB, attributeC
- Object2: attributeD, attributeE, attributeF
- Object3: attributeG, attributeH, attributeI


ArrayList A
- Object4: attributeA, attributeB, attributeC
- Object5: attributeJ, attributeK, attributeL
- Object6: attributeM, attributeN, attributeO

The problems are facing are:
- How can I search for an object on a ArrayList? The list is NOT sorted
- I'm 100% sure that using a Map is better. Can somebody help me?


Thanks, and feel free to ask for more specifications
-Lucas

[Tolls]

Can you have two Page objects in a List that have the same url, but with different extraParameters or depth attributes, or is there only ever going to be one?
What else do you do with these Lists?

I mean, for this immediate problem (presuming that overriding equals() so that a Page is equal to another one if the urls are the same is not correct), then a Map<String, List<Page>> where the key is the url might be the way to go? Then just compare key sets.

[LucasH]

Great question!
The idea is that each URL is going to be unique. So, maybe using a Map<String, Page> (where the String is the url attribute) is the best idea.

[Tolls]

If each URL is unique then stick with the List and simply override equals() such that if the urls are the same then return true.
That will allow you to use contains() for List.
Indeed maybe a Set would be better.
Override hashcode to return url.hashcode() and use a HashSet.

[LucasH]

but how come a List is better than a Map here? If I use a list, I would have to iterate all over the list to get it, but if I use a Map it'd be more direct!

[Tolls]

Hence the Set, which has a nice method that might be useful for you in this (if you clone one of your sets).

[LucasH]

ok
about performance, do you think that set can outwin map?

[Tolls]

You shouldn't be thinking about that.
You should be thinking "does a Map or a Set make sense".

Which comes down to what else you are using these collections for.
If nothing else, then a Set since that's what you want to do...set operations (see retainAll()).