gnu trove

GNU Trove is a high-performance, memory-efficient collections library for Java, originally developed as part of the GNU Project. It provides optimized implementations of common data structures like maps, sets, and lists, designed to reduce memory overhead and improve performance compared to the standard Java Collections Framework (JCF). Key Features of GNU Trove: Primitive Collections - Trove specializes in collections for primitive types (e.g., int, long, double), avoiding the boxing/unboxing overhead of Javas Integer, Long, etc. - Examples: - TIntArrayList (int-based list) - TLongObjectHashMap (long-to-object map) - TDoubleHashSet (set of double values) Memory Efficiency - Uses less memory than java.util collections by avoiding object wrappers for primitives and optimizing storage. Performance Optimizations - Faster iteration, insertion, and lookup compared to standard Java collections in many cases. Open-Source & Free - Licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). Common Use Cases High-performance applications (e.g., numeric computing, machine learning). Memory-constrained environments (e.g., Android apps before Kotlin/Native improvements). Avoiding autoboxing overhead in large datasets. Example Usage Comparison with Java Collections Feature GNU Trove Java Collections Framework (JCF) Primitive Support Yes (e.g., TIntList) No (requires Integer, Long) Memory Usage Lower (no boxing) Higher (boxing overhead) Performance Faster for primitives Slower due to boxing Flexibility Limited to primitives More generic (full OOP support) Alternatives Eclipse Collections (Primitive collections, rich API) FastUtil (Similar to Trove, supports more data structures) HPPC (High-performance primitive collections) Where to Get It? GitHub: https://github.com/gt4dev/gnu-trove Maven Dependency: Limitations Not actively maintained (last major update in 2014). Lacks some modern Java features (e.g., streams, lambdas). For new projects, consider FastUtil or Eclipse Collections. If you need high-performance primitive collections, GNU Trove is still a viable choice, but evaluate newer alternatives for long-term support.