Why doesn't java.util.Set have get(int index)?

Question

I\'m sure there\'s a good reason, but could someone please explain why the java.util.Set interface lacks get(int Index), or any similar get()

Answer 1

If you are going to do lots of random accesses by index in a set, you can get an array view of its elements:

Object[] arrayView = mySet.toArray();
//do whatever you need with arrayView[i]

There are two main drawbacks though:

1. It's not memory efficient, as an array for the whole set needs to be created.
2. If the set is modified, the view becomes obsolete.