What are the differences between thread-safe and synchronized collections?

What are the differences between thread-safe and synchronized collections?

Thread-safe collections are designed to handle concurrent access without external synchronization, while synchronized collections use locks to ensure that only one thread can access them at a time.

Can you give me examples of each type?

Sure! An example of a thread-safe collection is ConcurrentHashMap, while Collections.synchronizedList(new ArrayList<>()) is an example of a synchronized collection.

Which one is better for performance?

Thread-safe collections generally offer better performance in concurrent scenarios because they minimize locking and allow multiple threads to access them simultaneously.

Are there any downsides to using thread-safe collections?

Yes, thread-safe collections can be more complex to implement and may have overhead due to their internal mechanisms for managing concurrency.