Java Collections Framework

The big picture

Java Collection Framework

The maze of classes and interfaces

Past and Future

The Java Collections Framework was design to be consistent with the C++ Standard Template Library (STL), particularly with the containers module of C++.

Python provides it on collection of STL-like modules with a friendlier syntax and a pretty nice tutorial.

See the 40 Java Collections Interview Questions and Answers for a list of question I hope I am never asked.