Set of user defined class

[TelliameD]

I want to define a set of user defined class. e.g. let's say I've class defined as

public class point {
int x,y;
}

Set<point> Points;

Points = new HashSet<point>();

Now I want to add arbitrary points to this set. So, I do

P = new point(x1,y1);
Points.add(P);

I expect duplicate points to be present in my data (i.e. I might have multiple objects which have the same x,y co-ordinates). If I try to add duplicate point objects to Points, I expect the addition to fail in the code above. But, that is not happening and duplicate objects are being added. What am I doing wrong? How do I fix it? What is the correct way to define a set over user defined class. Does my user defined class need to implement any interface/method, which can be used by the Set collection framework to identify duplicates? I've tried implementing the equals method as well as the Comparable<point> interface.

[wsaryada]

To make it work correctly you have to implement both equals() and hashCode() methods in your Point class. This will make sure that your Set store Points with unique x and y value.

[TelliameD]

To make it work correctly you have to implement both equals() and hasCode() methods in your Point class. This will make sure that your Set store Points with unique x and y value.

Thanks very much. this worked for me.

But, why is the hashCode() method required. Why is implementing equals() not good enough?

[wsaryada]

When we are working with the collection classes in Java we must provide a correct and consistent hash value for each equals object. If we don't provide a the hash it will be generated by the collection framework which result in a different hash code for an object that we considered to be equals. So to make it work as expected we must provide the hash code that is generated from the same properties that we used in the equals method.

[Tolls]

Not any collection.
Just the ones that use Hashes (ie HashSet, HashMap).
Similarly with equals and Sets.
Trees require either implementing Comparable or a Comparator.
It's all documented in the various APIs.

Can I just suggest to the OP that they use naming standards?
The class name and object names in the above code are back to front.
Should be 'Point' for the class and 'points' for the variable.