Rule of thumb for choosing an implementation of a Java Collection?

Question

Anyone have a good rule of thumb for choosing between different implementations of Java Collection interfaces like List, Map, or Set?

For example, generally why or i

Answer 1

I found Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java to be very helpful. He compares the different collections very well. I used to keep a diagram he published showing the inheritance heirachy on my cube wall as a quick reference. One thing I suggest you do is keep in mind thread safety. Performance usually means not thread safe.