When to use Enum or Collection in Java

Question

Under what circumstances is an enum more appropriate than, for example, a Collection that guarantees unique elements (an implementer of java.util.Set, I guess...)?

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Answer 1

Great responses - I'll try and summarise, if just for my own reference - it kinda looks like you should use enums in two situations:

All the values you need are known at compile time, and either or both of the following:

• you want better performance than your usual collection implementations
• you want to limit the potential values to those specified at compile time

With the Collection over enumeration links that Jon gave, you can get the benefits of enum performance and safety as an implementation detail without incorporating it into your overall design.

Community wiki'd, please do edit and improve if you want to!