Added in API level 1

Summary: Ctors | Methods | Inherited Methods

IdentityHashMap

public class IdentityHashMap
extends AbstractMap<K, V> implements Cloneable, Map<K, V>, Serializable

java.lang.Object
↳	java.util.AbstractMap<K, V>
	↳	java.util.IdentityHashMap<K, V>

This class implements the Map interface with a hash table, using reference-equality in place of object-equality when comparing keys (and values). In other words, in an IdentityHashMap, two keys k1 and k2 are considered equal if and only if (k1==k2). (In normal Map implementations (like HashMap) two keys k1 and k2 are considered equal if and only if (k1==null ? k2==null : k1.equals(k2)).)

This class is not a general-purpose Map implementation! While this class implements the Map interface, it intentionally violates Map's general contract, which mandates the use of the equals method when comparing objects. This class is designed for use only in the rare cases wherein reference-equality semantics are required.

The view collections of this map also have reference-equality semantics for their elements. See the ERROR(keySet/keySet() keySet), ERROR(values/values() values), and ERROR(entrySet/entrySet() entrySet) methods for further information.

A typical use of this class is topology-preserving object graph transformations, such as serialization or deep-copying. To perform such a transformation, a program must maintain a "node table" that keeps track of all the object references that have already been processed. The node table must not equate distinct objects even if they happen to be equal. Another typical use of this class is to maintain proxy objects. For example, a debugging facility might wish to maintain a proxy object for each object in the program being debugged.

This class provides all of the optional map operations, and permits null values and the null key. This class makes no guarantees as to the order of the map; in particular, it does not guarantee that the order will remain constant over time.

This class provides constant-time performance for the basic operations (get and put), assuming the system identity hash function (System.identityHashCode(Object)) disperses elements properly among the buckets.

This class has one tuning parameter (which affects performance but not semantics): expected maximum size. This parameter is the maximum number of key-value mappings that the map is expected to hold. Internally, this parameter is used to determine the number of buckets initially comprising the hash table. The precise relationship between the expected maximum size and the number of buckets is unspecified.

If the size of the map (the number of key-value mappings) sufficiently exceeds the expected maximum size, the number of buckets is increased. Increasing the number of buckets ("rehashing") may be fairly expensive, so it pays to create identity hash maps with a sufficiently large expected maximum size. On the other hand, iteration over collection views requires time proportional to the number of buckets in the hash table, so it pays not to set the expected maximum size too high if you are especially concerned with iteration performance or memory usage.

Note that this implementation is not synchronized. If multiple threads access an identity hash map concurrently, and at least one of the threads modifies the map structurally, it must be synchronized externally. (A structural modification is any operation that adds or deletes one or more mappings; merely changing the value associated with a key that an instance already contains is not a structural modification.) This is typically accomplished by synchronizing on some object that naturally encapsulates the map. If no such object exists, the map should be "wrapped" using the Collections.synchronizedMap method. This is best done at creation time, to prevent accidental unsynchronized access to the map:

   Map m = Collections.synchronizedMap(new IdentityHashMap(...));

The iterators returned by the iterator method of the collections returned by all of this class's "collection view methods" are fail-fast: if the map is structurally modified at any time after the iterator is created, in any way except through the iterator's own remove method, the iterator will throw a ConcurrentModificationException. Thus, in the face of concurrent modification, the iterator fails quickly and cleanly, rather than risking arbitrary, non-deterministic behavior at an undetermined time in the future.

Note that the fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed as it is, generally speaking, impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification. Fail-fast iterators throw ConcurrentModificationException on a best-effort basis. Therefore, it would be wrong to write a program that depended on this exception for its correctness: fail-fast iterators should be used only to detect bugs.

This class is a member of the Java Collections Framework.

See also:

Summary

Public constructors
`IdentityHashMap()` Constructs a new, empty identity hash map with a default expected maximum size (21).
`IdentityHashMap(int expectedMaxSize)` Constructs a new, empty map with the specified expected maximum size.
`IdentityHashMap(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m)` Constructs a new identity hash map containing the keys-value mappings in the specified map.

Public methods
`void`	`clear()` Removes all of the mappings from this map.
`Object`	`clone()` Returns a shallow copy of this identity hash map: the keys and values themselves are not cloned.
`boolean`	`containsKey(Object key)` Tests whether the specified object reference is a key in this identity hash map.
`boolean`	`containsValue(Object value)` Tests whether the specified object reference is a value in this identity hash map.
`Set<Entry<K, V>>`	`entrySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the mappings contained in this map.
`boolean`	`equals(Object o)` Compares the specified object with this map for equality.
`void`	`forEach(BiConsumer<? super K, ? super V> action)` Performs the given action for each entry in this map until all entries have been processed or the action throws an exception.
`V`	`get(Object key)` Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key.
`int`	`hashCode()` Returns the hash code value for this map.
`boolean`	`isEmpty()` Returns `true` if this identity hash map contains no key-value mappings.
`Set<K>`	`keySet()` Returns an identity-based set view of the keys contained in this map.
`V`	`put(K key, V value)` Associates the specified value with the specified key in this identity hash map.
`void`	`putAll(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m)` Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this map.
`boolean`	`remove(Object key, Object value)` Removes the entry for the specified key only if it is currently mapped to the specified value. More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key `k` to a value `v` such that `(key == k)` and `(value == v)`, then this method removes the mapping for this key and returns `true`; otherwise it returns `false`.
`V`	`remove(Object key)` Removes the mapping for this key from this map if present.
`boolean`	`replace(K key, V oldValue, V newValue)` Replaces the entry for the specified key only if currently mapped to the specified value. More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key `k` to a value `v` such that `(key == k)` and `(oldValue == v)`, then this method associates `k` with `newValue` and returns `true`; otherwise it returns `false`.
`void`	`replaceAll(BiFunction<? super K, ? super V, ? extends V> function)` Replaces each entry's value with the result of invoking the given function on that entry until all entries have been processed or the function throws an exception.
`int`	`size()` Returns the number of key-value mappings in this identity hash map.
`Collection<V>`	`values()` Returns a `Collection` view of the values contained in this map.

Inherited methods

From class


        
          java.util.AbstractMap

`void`	`clear()` Removes all of the mappings from this map (optional operation).
`Object`	`clone()` Returns a shallow copy of this `AbstractMap` instance: the keys and values themselves are not cloned.
`boolean`	`containsKey(Object key)` Returns `true` if this map contains a mapping for the specified key.
`boolean`	`containsValue(Object value)` Returns `true` if this map maps one or more keys to the specified value.
`abstract Set<Entry<K, V>>`	`entrySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the mappings contained in this map.
`boolean`	`equals(Object o)` Compares the specified object with this map for equality.
`V`	`get(Object key)` Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key.
`int`	`hashCode()` Returns the hash code value for this map.
`boolean`	`isEmpty()` Returns `true` if this map contains no key-value mappings.
`Set<K>`	`keySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the keys contained in this map.
`V`	`put(K key, V value)` Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map (optional operation).
`void`	`putAll(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m)` Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this map (optional operation).
`V`	`remove(Object key)` Removes the mapping for a key from this map if it is present (optional operation).
`int`	`size()` Returns the number of key-value mappings in this map.
`String`	`toString()` Returns a string representation of this map.
`Collection<V>`	`values()` Returns a `Collection` view of the values contained in this map.

From class


        
          java.lang.Object

`Object`	`clone()` Creates and returns a copy of this object.
`boolean`	`equals(Object obj)` Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.
`void`	`finalize()` Called by the garbage collector on an object when garbage collection determines that there are no more references to the object.
`final Class<?>`	`getClass()` Returns the runtime class of this `Object`.
`int`	`hashCode()` Returns a hash code value for the object.
`final void`	`notify()` Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on this object's monitor.
`final void`	`notifyAll()` Wakes up all threads that are waiting on this object's monitor.
`String`	`toString()` Returns a string representation of the object.
`final void`	`wait(long timeoutMillis, int nanos)` Causes the current thread to wait until it is awakened, typically by being notified or interrupted, or until a certain amount of real time has elapsed.
`final void`	`wait(long timeoutMillis)` Causes the current thread to wait until it is awakened, typically by being notified or interrupted, or until a certain amount of real time has elapsed.
`final void`	`wait()` Causes the current thread to wait until it is awakened, typically by being notified or interrupted.

From interface


        
          java.util.Map

`abstract void`	`clear()` Removes all of the mappings from this map (optional operation).
`default V`	`compute(K key, BiFunction<? super K, ? super V, ? extends V> remappingFunction)` Attempts to compute a mapping for the specified key and its current mapped value (or `null` if there is no current mapping).
`default V`	`computeIfAbsent(K key, Function<? super K, ? extends V> mappingFunction)` If the specified key is not already associated with a value (or is mapped to `null`), attempts to compute its value using the given mapping function and enters it into this map unless `null`.
`default V`	`computeIfPresent(K key, BiFunction<? super K, ? super V, ? extends V> remappingFunction)` If the value for the specified key is present and non-null, attempts to compute a new mapping given the key and its current mapped value.
`abstract boolean`	`containsKey(Object key)` Returns `true` if this map contains a mapping for the specified key.
`abstract boolean`	`containsValue(Object value)` Returns `true` if this map maps one or more keys to the specified value.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`copyOf(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> map)` Returns an unmodifiable Map containing the entries of the given Map.
`static <K, V> Entry<K, V>`	`entry(K k, V v)` Returns an unmodifiable `Entry` containing the given key and value.
`abstract Set<Entry<K, V>>`	`entrySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the mappings contained in this map.
`abstract boolean`	`equals(Object o)` Compares the specified object with this map for equality.
`default void`	`forEach(BiConsumer<? super K, ? super V> action)` Performs the given action for each entry in this map until all entries have been processed or the action throws an exception.
`abstract V`	`get(Object key)` Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key.
`default V`	`getOrDefault(Object key, V defaultValue)` Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `defaultValue` if this map contains no mapping for the key.
`abstract int`	`hashCode()` Returns the hash code value for this map.
`abstract boolean`	`isEmpty()` Returns `true` if this map contains no key-value mappings.
`abstract Set<K>`	`keySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the keys contained in this map.
`default V`	`merge(K key, V value, BiFunction<? super V, ? super V, ? extends V> remappingFunction)` If the specified key is not already associated with a value or is associated with null, associates it with the given non-null value.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing five mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing four mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing a single mapping.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7, K k8, V v8)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing eight mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing two mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing three mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of()` Returns an unmodifiable map containing zero mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7, K k8, V v8, K k9, V v9)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing nine mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing six mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing seven mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`of(K k1, V v1, K k2, V v2, K k3, V v3, K k4, V v4, K k5, V v5, K k6, V v6, K k7, V v7, K k8, V v8, K k9, V v9, K k10, V v10)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing ten mappings.
`static <K, V> Map<K, V>`	`ofEntries(Entry...<? extends K, ? extends V> entries)` Returns an unmodifiable map containing keys and values extracted from the given entries.
`abstract V`	`put(K key, V value)` Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map (optional operation).
`abstract void`	`putAll(Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m)` Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this map (optional operation).
`default V`	`putIfAbsent(K key, V value)` If the specified key is not already associated with a value (or is mapped to `null`) associates it with the given value and returns `null`, else returns the current value.
`default boolean`	`remove(Object key, Object value)` Removes the entry for the specified key only if it is currently mapped to the specified value.
`abstract V`	`remove(Object key)` Removes the mapping for a key from this map if it is present (optional operation).
`default boolean`	`replace(K key, V oldValue, V newValue)` Replaces the entry for the specified key only if currently mapped to the specified value.
`default V`	`replace(K key, V value)` Replaces the entry for the specified key only if it is currently mapped to some value.
`default void`	`replaceAll(BiFunction<? super K, ? super V, ? extends V> function)` Replaces each entry's value with the result of invoking the given function on that entry until all entries have been processed or the function throws an exception.
`abstract int`	`size()` Returns the number of key-value mappings in this map.
`abstract Collection<V>`	`values()` Returns a `Collection` view of the values contained in this map.

Public constructors

IdentityHashMap

Added in API level 1

public IdentityHashMap ()

Constructs a new, empty identity hash map with a default expected maximum size (21).

IdentityHashMap

Added in API level 1

public IdentityHashMap (int expectedMaxSize)

Constructs a new, empty map with the specified expected maximum size. Putting more than the expected number of key-value mappings into the map may cause the internal data structure to grow, which may be somewhat time-consuming.

Parameters
`expectedMaxSize`	`int`: the expected maximum size of the map

Throws
`IllegalArgumentException`	if `expectedMaxSize` is negative

IdentityHashMap

Added in API level 1

public IdentityHashMap (Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m)

Constructs a new identity hash map containing the keys-value mappings in the specified map.

Parameters
`m`	`Map`: the map whose mappings are to be placed into this map

Throws
`NullPointerException`	if the specified map is null

Public methods

clear

Added in API level 1

public void clear ()

Removes all of the mappings from this map. The map will be empty after this call returns.

clone

Added in API level 1

public Object clone ()

Returns a shallow copy of this identity hash map: the keys and values themselves are not cloned.

Returns
`Object`	a shallow copy of this map

containsKey

Added in API level 1

public boolean containsKey (Object key)

Tests whether the specified object reference is a key in this identity hash map. Returns true if and only if this map contains a mapping with key k such that (key == k).

Parameters
`key`	`Object`: possible key

Returns
`boolean`	`true` if the specified object reference is a key in this map

See also:

containsValue(Object)

containsValue

Added in API level 1

public boolean containsValue (Object value)

Tests whether the specified object reference is a value in this identity hash map. Returns true if and only if this map contains a mapping with value v such that (value == v).

Parameters
`value`	`Object`: value whose presence in this map is to be tested

Returns
`boolean`	`true` if this map maps one or more keys to the specified object reference

See also:

containsKey(Object)

entrySet

Added in API level 1

public Set<Entry<K, V>> entrySet ()

Returns a Set view of the mappings contained in this map. Each element in the returned set is a reference-equality-based Map.Entry. The set is backed by the map, so changes to the map are reflected in the set, and vice-versa. If the map is modified while an iteration over the set is in progress, the results of the iteration are undefined. The set supports element removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the Iterator.remove, Set.remove, removeAll, retainAll and clear methods. It does not support the add or addAll methods.

Like the backing map, the Map.Entry objects in the set returned by this method define key and value equality as reference-equality rather than object-equality. This affects the behavior of the equals and hashCode methods of these Map.Entry objects. A reference-equality based Map.Entry e is equal to an object o if and only if o is a Map.Entry and e.getKey()==o.getKey() && e.getValue()==o.getValue(). To accommodate these equals semantics, the hashCode method returns System.identityHashCode(e.getKey()) ^ System.identityHashCode(e.getValue()). (While the keys and values are compared using reference equality, the Map.Entry objects themselves are not.)

Owing to the reference-equality-based semantics of the Map.Entry instances in the set returned by this method, it is possible that the symmetry and transitivity requirements of the Object.equals(Object) contract may be violated if any of the entries in the set is compared to a normal map entry, or if the set returned by this method is compared to a set of normal map entries (such as would be returned by a call to this method on a normal map). However, the Object.equals contract is guaranteed to hold among identity-based map entries, and among sets of such entries.

Returns
`Set<Entry<K, V>>`	a set view of the identity-mappings contained in this map

equals

Added in API level 1

public boolean equals (Object o)

Compares the specified object with this map for equality. Returns true if the given object is also a map and the two maps represent identical object-reference mappings. More formally, this map is equal to another map m if and only if this.entrySet().equals(m.entrySet()). See the ERROR(entrySet/entrySet() entrySet) method for the specification of equality of this map's entries.

Owing to the reference-equality-based semantics of this map it is possible that the symmetry and transitivity requirements of the Object.equals contract may be violated if this map is compared to a normal map. However, the Object.equals contract is guaranteed to hold among IdentityHashMap instances.

Parameters
`o`	`Object`: object to be compared for equality with this map

Returns
`boolean`	`true` if the specified object is equal to this map

See also:

Object.equals(Object)

forEach

Added in API level 24

public void forEach (BiConsumer<? super K, ? super V> action)

Performs the given action for each entry in this map until all entries have been processed or the action throws an exception. Unless otherwise specified by the implementing class, actions are performed in the order of entry set iteration (if an iteration order is specified.) Exceptions thrown by the action are relayed to the caller.

Parameters
`action`	`BiConsumer`: The action to be performed for each entry

get

Added in API level 1

public V get (Object key)

Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or null if this map contains no mapping for the key.

More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key k to a value v such that (key == k), then this method returns v; otherwise it returns null. (There can be at most one such mapping.)

A return value of null does not necessarily indicate that the map contains no mapping for the key; it's also possible that the map explicitly maps the key to null. The containsKey operation may be used to distinguish these two cases.

Parameters
`key`	`Object`: the key whose associated value is to be returned

Returns
`V`	the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key

See also:

put(Object, Object)

hashCode

Added in API level 1

public int hashCode ()

Returns the hash code value for this map. The hash code of a map is defined to be the sum of the hash codes of each entry of this map. See the ERROR(entrySet/entrySet() entrySet) method for a specification of the hash code of this map's entries.

This specification ensures that m1.equals(m2) implies that m1.hashCode()==m2.hashCode() for any two IdentityHashMap instances m1 and m2, as required by the general contract of Object.hashCode.

Owing to the reference-equality-based semantics of the Map.Entry instances in the set returned by this map's entrySet method, it is possible that the contractual requirement of Object.hashCode mentioned in the previous paragraph will be violated if one of the two objects being compared is an IdentityHashMap instance and the other is a normal map.

Returns
`int`	the hash code value for this map

See also:

isEmpty

Added in API level 1

public boolean isEmpty ()

Returns true if this identity hash map contains no key-value mappings.

Returns
`boolean`	`true` if this identity hash map contains no key-value mappings

keySet

Added in API level 1

public Set<K> keySet ()

Returns an identity-based set view of the keys contained in this map. The set is backed by the map, so changes to the map are reflected in the set, and vice-versa. If the map is modified while an iteration over the set is in progress, the results of the iteration are undefined. The set supports element removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the Iterator.remove, Set.remove, removeAll, retainAll, and clear methods. It does not support the add or addAll methods.

While the object returned by this method implements the Set interface, it does not obey Set's general contract. Like its backing map, the set returned by this method defines element equality as reference-equality rather than object-equality. This affects the behavior of its contains, remove, containsAll, equals, and hashCode methods.

The equals method of the returned set returns true only if the specified object is a set containing exactly the same object references as the returned set. The symmetry and transitivity requirements of the Object.equals contract may be violated if the set returned by this method is compared to a normal set. However, the Object.equals contract is guaranteed to hold among sets returned by this method.

The hashCode method of the returned set returns the sum of the identity hashcodes of the elements in the set, rather than the sum of their hashcodes. This is mandated by the change in the semantics of the equals method, in order to enforce the general contract of the Object.hashCode method among sets returned by this method.

Returns
`Set<K>`	an identity-based set view of the keys contained in this map

See also:

put

Added in API level 1

public V put (K key, 
                V value)

Associates the specified value with the specified key in this identity hash map. If this map already ERROR(contains/containsKey(Object) contains) a mapping for the key, the old value is replaced, otherwise, a new mapping is inserted into this map.

Parameters
`key`	`K`: the key with which the specified value is to be associated
`value`	`V`: the value to be associated with the specified key

Returns
`V`	the previous value associated with `key`, or `null` if there was no mapping for `key`. (A `null` return can also indicate that the map previously associated `null` with `key`.)

See also:

putAll

Added in API level 1

public void putAll (Map<? extends K, ? extends V> m)

Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this map. For each mapping in the specified map, if this map already ERROR(contains/containsKey(Object) contains) a mapping for the key, its value is replaced with the value from the specified map; otherwise, a new mapping is inserted into this map.

Parameters
`m`	`Map`: mappings to be stored in this map

Throws
`NullPointerException`	if the specified map is null

remove

Added in API level 24

public boolean remove (Object key, 
                Object value)

Removes the entry for the specified key only if it is currently mapped to the specified value.

More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key k to a value v such that (key == k) and (value == v), then this method removes the mapping for this key and returns true; otherwise it returns false.

Parameters
`key`	`Object`: key with which the specified value is associated
`value`	`Object`: value expected to be associated with the specified key

Returns
`boolean`	`true` if the value was removed

remove

Added in API level 1

public V remove (Object key)

Removes the mapping for this key from this map if present. The mapping is removed if and only if the mapping has a key k such that (key == k).

Parameters
`key`	`Object`: key whose mapping is to be removed from the map

Returns
`V`	the previous value associated with `key`, or `null` if there was no mapping for `key`. (A `null` return can also indicate that the map previously associated `null` with `key`.)

replace

Added in API level 24

public boolean replace (K key, 
                V oldValue, 
                V newValue)

Replaces the entry for the specified key only if currently mapped to the specified value.

More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key k to a value v such that (key == k) and (oldValue == v), then this method associates k with newValue and returns true; otherwise it returns false.

Parameters
`key`	`K`: key with which the specified value is associated
`oldValue`	`V`: value expected to be associated with the specified key
`newValue`	`V`: value to be associated with the specified key

Returns
`boolean`	`true` if the value was replaced

replaceAll

Added in API level 24

public void replaceAll (BiFunction<? super K, ? super V, ? extends V> function)

Replaces each entry's value with the result of invoking the given function on that entry until all entries have been processed or the function throws an exception. Exceptions thrown by the function are relayed to the caller.

Parameters
`function`	`BiFunction`: the function to apply to each entry

size

Added in API level 1

public int size ()

Returns the number of key-value mappings in this identity hash map.

Returns
`int`	the number of key-value mappings in this map

values

Added in API level 1

public Collection<V> values ()

Returns a Collection view of the values contained in this map. The collection is backed by the map, so changes to the map are reflected in the collection, and vice-versa. If the map is modified while an iteration over the collection is in progress, the results of the iteration are undefined. The collection supports element removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the Iterator.remove, Collection.remove, removeAll, retainAll and clear methods. It does not support the add or addAll methods.

While the object returned by this method implements the Collection interface, it does not obey Collection's general contract. Like its backing map, the collection returned by this method defines element equality as reference-equality rather than object-equality. This affects the behavior of its contains, remove and containsAll methods.

Returns
`Collection<V>`	a collection view of the values contained in this map