[jira] [Created] (COLLECTIONS-704) GrowthList: ambiguity in constructor argument

["K P (JIRA)" <ji...@apache.org>]

K P created COLLECTIONS-704:
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             Summary: GrowthList: ambiguity in constructor argument
                 Key: COLLECTIONS-704
                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/COLLECTIONS-704
             Project: Commons Collections
          Issue Type: Improvement
          Components: List
    Affects Versions: 4.2, 4.0
            Reporter: K P


The javadoc of constructor

{{[GrowthList|https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-collections/apidocs/org/apache/commons/collections4/list/GrowthList.html#GrowthList-int-](int initialSize)}}

states:

{{initialSize}} - the initial size of the ArrayList

 

However, this is confusing terminology: As the initialSize argument is passed directly to the internal ArrayList constructor, this is effectively the initial +capacity+. The +capacity+ is NOT the same as the actual list +size+. So after this constructor is called, the actual list.size() is still 0. This is identical to the normal ArrayList constructor's behavior of course.

However, the GrowthList javadoc is confusing by explicitly claiming this is the "_initial size_", which may lead the reader to think that this constructor effectively grows the initial list to an actual given size - size in the sense the word is used everywhere else in the javadoc of this class. As opposed to the javadoc of Java's ArrayList, where they clear use the terminology "_the initial capacity of the list_", to avoid any confusion between the notion of internal array capacity and the list size.

If, long ago, this GrowthList constructor was once intended to really set the ini**tial size, then is clearly not what the code does.

However, if this never was the intention, and this was just intended to be an initial capacity, as the normal ArrayList, then the javadoc of GrowthList should be slightly reworded, to avoid ambiguity or misunderstanding, and make clear this is just the initial _capacity_ of the underlying ArrayList; not the initial _size_ of the list.

 



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