001/*
002 * Copyright (C) 2007 The Guava Authors
003 *
004 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
005 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
006 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
007 *
008 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009 *
010 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
011 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
012 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
013 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
014 * limitations under the License.
015 */
016
017package com.google.common.collect;
018
019import com.google.common.annotations.GwtCompatible;
020import com.google.errorprone.annotations.CanIgnoreReturnValue;
021import com.google.errorprone.annotations.CompatibleWith;
022import com.google.errorprone.annotations.DoNotMock;
023import java.util.Collection;
024import java.util.List;
025import java.util.Map;
026import java.util.Map.Entry;
027import java.util.Set;
028import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.compatqual.NullableDecl;
029
030/**
031 * A collection that maps keys to values, similar to {@link Map}, but in which each key may be
032 * associated with <i>multiple</i> values. You can visualize the contents of a multimap either as a
033 * map from keys to <i>nonempty</i> collections of values:
034 *
035 * <ul>
036 *   <li>a → 1, 2
037 *   <li>b → 3
038 * </ul>
039 *
040 * ... or as a single "flattened" collection of key-value pairs:
041 *
042 * <ul>
043 *   <li>a → 1
044 *   <li>a → 2
045 *   <li>b → 3
046 * </ul>
047 *
048 * <p><b>Important:</b> although the first interpretation resembles how most multimaps are
049 * <i>implemented</i>, the design of the {@code Multimap} API is based on the <i>second</i> form.
050 * So, using the multimap shown above as an example, the {@link #size} is {@code 3}, not {@code 2},
051 * and the {@link #values} collection is {@code [1, 2, 3]}, not {@code [[1, 2], [3]]}. For those
052 * times when the first style is more useful, use the multimap's {@link #asMap} view (or create a
053 * {@code Map<K, Collection<V>>} in the first place).
054 *
055 * <h3>Example</h3>
056 *
057 * <p>The following code:
058 *
059 * <pre>{@code
060 * ListMultimap<String, String> multimap = ArrayListMultimap.create();
061 * for (President pres : US_PRESIDENTS_IN_ORDER) {
062 *   multimap.put(pres.firstName(), pres.lastName());
063 * }
064 * for (String firstName : multimap.keySet()) {
065 *   List<String> lastNames = multimap.get(firstName);
066 *   out.println(firstName + ": " + lastNames);
067 * }
068 * }</pre>
069 *
070 * ... produces output such as:
071 *
072 * <pre>{@code
073 * Zachary: [Taylor]
074 * John: [Adams, Adams, Tyler, Kennedy]  // Remember, Quincy!
075 * George: [Washington, Bush, Bush]
076 * Grover: [Cleveland, Cleveland]        // Two, non-consecutive terms, rep'ing NJ!
077 * ...
078 * }</pre>
079 *
080 * <h3>Views</h3>
081 *
082 * <p>Much of the power of the multimap API comes from the <i>view collections</i> it provides.
083 * These always reflect the latest state of the multimap itself. When they support modification, the
084 * changes are <i>write-through</i> (they automatically update the backing multimap). These view
085 * collections are:
086 *
087 * <ul>
088 *   <li>{@link #asMap}, mentioned above
089 *   <li>{@link #keys}, {@link #keySet}, {@link #values}, {@link #entries}, which are similar to the
090 *       corresponding view collections of {@link Map}
091 *   <li>and, notably, even the collection returned by {@link #get get(key)} is an active view of
092 *       the values corresponding to {@code key}
093 * </ul>
094 *
095 * <p>The collections returned by the {@link #replaceValues replaceValues} and {@link #removeAll
096 * removeAll} methods, which contain values that have just been removed from the multimap, are
097 * naturally <i>not</i> views.
098 *
099 * <h3>Subinterfaces</h3>
100 *
101 * <p>Instead of using the {@code Multimap} interface directly, prefer the subinterfaces {@link
102 * ListMultimap} and {@link SetMultimap}. These take their names from the fact that the collections
103 * they return from {@code get} behave like (and, of course, implement) {@link List} and {@link
104 * Set}, respectively.
105 *
106 * <p>For example, the "presidents" code snippet above used a {@code ListMultimap}; if it had used a
107 * {@code SetMultimap} instead, two presidents would have vanished, and last names might or might
108 * not appear in chronological order.
109 *
110 * <p><b>Warning:</b> instances of type {@code Multimap} may not implement {@link Object#equals} in
111 * the way you expect. Multimaps containing the same key-value pairs, even in the same order, may or
112 * may not be equal and may or may not have the same {@code hashCode}. The recommended subinterfaces
113 * provide much stronger guarantees.
114 *
115 * <h3>Comparison to a map of collections</h3>
116 *
117 * <p>Multimaps are commonly used in places where a {@code Map<K, Collection<V>>} would otherwise
118 * have appeared. The differences include:
119 *
120 * <ul>
121 *   <li>There is no need to populate an empty collection before adding an entry with {@link #put
122 *       put}.
123 *   <li>{@code get} never returns {@code null}, only an empty collection.
124 *   <li>A key is contained in the multimap if and only if it maps to at least one value. Any
125 *       operation that causes a key to have zero associated values has the effect of
126 *       <i>removing</i> that key from the multimap.
127 *   <li>The total entry count is available as {@link #size}.
128 *   <li>Many complex operations become easier; for example, {@code
129 *       Collections.min(multimap.values())} finds the smallest value across all keys.
130 * </ul>
131 *
132 * <h3>Implementations</h3>
133 *
134 * <p>As always, prefer the immutable implementations, {@link ImmutableListMultimap} and {@link
135 * ImmutableSetMultimap}. General-purpose mutable implementations are listed above under "All Known
136 * Implementing Classes". You can also create a <i>custom</i> multimap, backed by any {@code Map}
137 * and {@link Collection} types, using the {@link Multimaps#newMultimap Multimaps.newMultimap}
138 * family of methods. Finally, another popular way to obtain a multimap is using {@link
139 * Multimaps#index Multimaps.index}. See the {@link Multimaps} class for these and other static
140 * utilities related to multimaps.
141 *
142 * <h3>Other Notes</h3>
143 *
144 * <p>As with {@code Map}, the behavior of a {@code Multimap} is not specified if key objects
145 * already present in the multimap change in a manner that affects {@code equals} comparisons. Use
146 * caution if mutable objects are used as keys in a {@code Multimap}.
147 *
148 * <p>All methods that modify the multimap are optional. The view collections returned by the
149 * multimap may or may not be modifiable. Any modification method that is not supported will throw
150 * {@link UnsupportedOperationException}.
151 *
152 * <p>See the Guava User Guide article on <a href=
153 * "https://github.com/google/guava/wiki/NewCollectionTypesExplained#multimap"> {@code
154 * Multimap}</a>.
155 *
156 * @author Jared Levy
157 * @since 2.0
158 */
159@DoNotMock("Use ImmutableMultimap, HashMultimap, or another implementation")
160@GwtCompatible
161public interface Multimap<K, V> {
162  // Query Operations
163
164  /**
165   * Returns the number of key-value pairs in this multimap.
166   *
167   * <p><b>Note:</b> this method does not return the number of <i>distinct keys</i> in the multimap,
168   * which is given by {@code keySet().size()} or {@code asMap().size()}. See the opening section of
169   * the {@link Multimap} class documentation for clarification.
170   */
171  int size();
172
173  /**
174   * Returns {@code true} if this multimap contains no key-value pairs. Equivalent to {@code size()
175   * == 0}, but can in some cases be more efficient.
176   */
177  boolean isEmpty();
178
179  /**
180   * Returns {@code true} if this multimap contains at least one key-value pair with the key {@code
181   * key}.
182   */
183  boolean containsKey(@CompatibleWith("K") @NullableDecl Object key);
184
185  /**
186   * Returns {@code true} if this multimap contains at least one key-value pair with the value
187   * {@code value}.
188   */
189  boolean containsValue(@CompatibleWith("V") @NullableDecl Object value);
190
191  /**
192   * Returns {@code true} if this multimap contains at least one key-value pair with the key {@code
193   * key} and the value {@code value}.
194   */
195  boolean containsEntry(
196      @CompatibleWith("K") @NullableDecl Object key,
197      @CompatibleWith("V") @NullableDecl Object value);
198
199  // Modification Operations
200
201  /**
202   * Stores a key-value pair in this multimap.
203   *
204   * <p>Some multimap implementations allow duplicate key-value pairs, in which case {@code put}
205   * always adds a new key-value pair and increases the multimap size by 1. Other implementations
206   * prohibit duplicates, and storing a key-value pair that's already in the multimap has no effect.
207   *
208   * @return {@code true} if the method increased the size of the multimap, or {@code false} if the
209   *     multimap already contained the key-value pair and doesn't allow duplicates
210   */
211  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
212  boolean put(@NullableDecl K key, @NullableDecl V value);
213
214  /**
215   * Removes a single key-value pair with the key {@code key} and the value {@code value} from this
216   * multimap, if such exists. If multiple key-value pairs in the multimap fit this description,
217   * which one is removed is unspecified.
218   *
219   * @return {@code true} if the multimap changed
220   */
221  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
222  boolean remove(
223      @CompatibleWith("K") @NullableDecl Object key,
224      @CompatibleWith("V") @NullableDecl Object value);
225
226  // Bulk Operations
227
228  /**
229   * Stores a key-value pair in this multimap for each of {@code values}, all using the same key,
230   * {@code key}. Equivalent to (but expected to be more efficient than):
231   *
232   * <pre>{@code
233   * for (V value : values) {
234   *   put(key, value);
235   * }
236   * }</pre>
237   *
238   * <p>In particular, this is a no-op if {@code values} is empty.
239   *
240   * @return {@code true} if the multimap changed
241   */
242  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
243  boolean putAll(@NullableDecl K key, Iterable<? extends V> values);
244
245  /**
246   * Stores all key-value pairs of {@code multimap} in this multimap, in the order returned by
247   * {@code multimap.entries()}.
248   *
249   * @return {@code true} if the multimap changed
250   */
251  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
252  boolean putAll(Multimap<? extends K, ? extends V> multimap);
253
254  /**
255   * Stores a collection of values with the same key, replacing any existing values for that key.
256   *
257   * <p>If {@code values} is empty, this is equivalent to {@link #removeAll(Object) removeAll(key)}.
258   *
259   * @return the collection of replaced values, or an empty collection if no values were previously
260   *     associated with the key. The collection <i>may</i> be modifiable, but updating it will have
261   *     no effect on the multimap.
262   */
263  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
264  Collection<V> replaceValues(@NullableDecl K key, Iterable<? extends V> values);
265
266  /**
267   * Removes all values associated with the key {@code key}.
268   *
269   * <p>Once this method returns, {@code key} will not be mapped to any values, so it will not
270   * appear in {@link #keySet()}, {@link #asMap()}, or any other views.
271   *
272   * @return the values that were removed (possibly empty). The returned collection <i>may</i> be
273   *     modifiable, but updating it will have no effect on the multimap.
274   */
275  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
276  Collection<V> removeAll(@CompatibleWith("K") @NullableDecl Object key);
277
278  /** Removes all key-value pairs from the multimap, leaving it {@linkplain #isEmpty empty}. */
279  void clear();
280
281  // Views
282
283  /**
284   * Returns a view collection of the values associated with {@code key} in this multimap, if any.
285   * Note that when {@code containsKey(key)} is false, this returns an empty collection, not {@code
286   * null}.
287   *
288   * <p>Changes to the returned collection will update the underlying multimap, and vice versa.
289   */
290  Collection<V> get(@NullableDecl K key);
291
292  /**
293   * Returns a view collection of all <i>distinct</i> keys contained in this multimap. Note that the
294   * key set contains a key if and only if this multimap maps that key to at least one value.
295   *
296   * <p>Changes to the returned set will update the underlying multimap, and vice versa. However,
297   * <i>adding</i> to the returned set is not possible.
298   */
299  Set<K> keySet();
300
301  /**
302   * Returns a view collection containing the key from each key-value pair in this multimap,
303   * <i>without</i> collapsing duplicates. This collection has the same size as this multimap, and
304   * {@code keys().count(k) == get(k).size()} for all {@code k}.
305   *
306   * <p>Changes to the returned multiset will update the underlying multimap, and vice versa.
307   * However, <i>adding</i> to the returned collection is not possible.
308   */
309  Multiset<K> keys();
310
311  /**
312   * Returns a view collection containing the <i>value</i> from each key-value pair contained in
313   * this multimap, without collapsing duplicates (so {@code values().size() == size()}).
314   *
315   * <p>Changes to the returned collection will update the underlying multimap, and vice versa.
316   * However, <i>adding</i> to the returned collection is not possible.
317   */
318  Collection<V> values();
319
320  /**
321   * Returns a view collection of all key-value pairs contained in this multimap, as {@link Entry}
322   * instances.
323   *
324   * <p>Changes to the returned collection or the entries it contains will update the underlying
325   * multimap, and vice versa. However, <i>adding</i> to the returned collection is not possible.
326   */
327  Collection<Entry<K, V>> entries();
328
329  /**
330   * Returns a view of this multimap as a {@code Map} from each distinct key to the nonempty
331   * collection of that key's associated values. Note that {@code this.asMap().get(k)} is equivalent
332   * to {@code this.get(k)} only when {@code k} is a key contained in the multimap; otherwise it
333   * returns {@code null} as opposed to an empty collection.
334   *
335   * <p>Changes to the returned map or the collections that serve as its values will update the
336   * underlying multimap, and vice versa. The map does not support {@code put} or {@code putAll},
337   * nor do its entries support {@link Entry#setValue setValue}.
338   */
339  Map<K, Collection<V>> asMap();
340
341  // Comparison and hashing
342
343  /**
344   * Compares the specified object with this multimap for equality. Two multimaps are equal when
345   * their map views, as returned by {@link #asMap}, are also equal.
346   *
347   * <p>In general, two multimaps with identical key-value mappings may or may not be equal,
348   * depending on the implementation. For example, two {@link SetMultimap} instances with the same
349   * key-value mappings are equal, but equality of two {@link ListMultimap} instances depends on the
350   * ordering of the values for each key.
351   *
352   * <p>A non-empty {@link SetMultimap} cannot be equal to a non-empty {@link ListMultimap}, since
353   * their {@link #asMap} views contain unequal collections as values. However, any two empty
354   * multimaps are equal, because they both have empty {@link #asMap} views.
355   */
356  @Override
357  boolean equals(@NullableDecl Object obj);
358
359  /**
360   * Returns the hash code for this multimap.
361   *
362   * <p>The hash code of a multimap is defined as the hash code of the map view, as returned by
363   * {@link Multimap#asMap}.
364   *
365   * <p>In general, two multimaps with identical key-value mappings may or may not have the same
366   * hash codes, depending on the implementation. For example, two {@link SetMultimap} instances
367   * with the same key-value mappings will have the same {@code hashCode}, but the {@code hashCode}
368   * of {@link ListMultimap} instances depends on the ordering of the values for each key.
369   */
370  @Override
371  int hashCode();
372}