Java Academy · Lesson

TreeSet and NavigableSet

Store unique sorted elements and use floor, ceiling, higher, lower for nearest-neighbor queries.

TreeSet and NavigableSet is a free Java Academy lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 3 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Java Academy learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.

What is TreeSet?

TreeSet is a sorted set backed by a Red-Black tree. It stores unique elements in ascending natural order (or a provided comparator). All operations are O(log n).

import java.util.TreeSet;

TreeSet<String> names = new TreeSet<>();
names.add("Charlie");
names.add("Alice");
names.add("Bob");
names.add("Alice"); // duplicate ignored

for (String s : names) System.out.print(s + " ");
// Alice Bob Charlie

NavigableSet Methods: floor, ceiling, lower, higher

TreeSet implements NavigableSet, providing navigation methods to find the nearest elements:

TreeSet<Integer> set = new TreeSet<>();
for (int i = 10; i <= 50; i += 10) set.add(i);
// {10, 20, 30, 40, 50}

System.out.println(set.floor(25));   // 20 (greatest ≤ 25)
System.out.println(set.ceiling(25)); // 30 (smallest ≥ 25)
System.out.println(set.lower(30));   // 20 (strictly less)
System.out.println(set.higher(30));  // 40 (strictly greater)

first, last, pollFirst, pollLast

Access or remove the boundary elements:

TreeSet<String> ts = new TreeSet<>(Set.of("cherry","apple","banana","date"));

System.out.println(ts.first());       // apple
System.out.println(ts.last());        // date
System.out.println(ts.pollFirst());   // apple (removed)
System.out.println(ts.pollLast());    // date (removed)
System.out.println(ts);              // [banana, cherry]

headSet, tailSet, subSet

Extract sorted subset views:

TreeSet<Integer> set = new TreeSet<>(Set.of(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10));

System.out.println(set.headSet(5));      // [1, 2, 3, 4]
System.out.println(set.tailSet(7));      // [7, 8, 9, 10]
System.out.println(set.subSet(3, 7));    // [3, 4, 5, 6]

// Inclusive upper bound:
System.out.println(set.subSet(3, true, 7, true)); // [3,4,5,6,7]

Descending Iteration

Use descendingIterator() or descendingSet() for reverse order:

TreeSet<Integer> ts = new TreeSet<>(Set.of(1,3,5,7,9));

// Descending iterator
var it = ts.descendingIterator();
while (it.hasNext()) System.out.print(it.next() + " ");
// 9 7 5 3 1

Custom Ordering via Comparator

Pass a Comparator to sort by a non-natural order — for example, longest string first:

TreeSet<String> byLength = new TreeSet<>(
    Comparator.comparingInt(String::length)
              .thenComparing(Comparator.naturalOrder())
);
byLength.add("Hi");
byLength.add("Hello");
byLength.add("Hey");
byLength.add("Java");

for (String s : byLength) System.out.print(s + " ");
// Hi Hey Java Hello

Use Case: Sorted Unique Usernames

Store usernames in a TreeSet to automatically deduplicate and maintain alphabetical order:

TreeSet<String> users = new TreeSet<>();
users.add("alice");
users.add("bob");
users.add("alice"); // ignored
users.add("carol");

System.out.println(users.first()); // alice
System.out.println(users);         // [alice, bob, carol]

Use Case: Range Counting

Count elements in a range using subSet:

TreeSet<Integer> scores = new TreeSet<>();
for (int s : new int[]{45,62,78,55,90,88,34,71}) scores.add(s);

// Scores between 60 and 89 (inclusive)
int count = scores.subSet(60, true, 89, true).size();
System.out.println("Students in B range: " + count); // 3 (62, 78, 88... wait: 62,78,71,88=4)
// Actually: 62,71,78,88 = 4

TreeSet vs HashSet vs LinkedHashSet

Choose based on needs:

HashSet: O(1) operations, unordered
LinkedHashSet: O(1) operations, insertion-ordered
TreeSet: O(log n) operations, sorted order, navigation methods

TreeSet requires elements to implement Comparable or a Comparator.

Null Elements

TreeSet does NOT allow null elements when using natural ordering — a NullPointerException is thrown because null cannot be compared. A custom comparator that handles null explicitly would work.

TreeSet<String> ts = new TreeSet<>();
try {
    ts.add(null); // throws NullPointerException
} catch (NullPointerException e) {
    System.out.println("Cannot add null: " + e);
}

Thread Safety

TreeSet is NOT thread-safe. Synchronize externally with Collections.synchronizedSortedSet(), or use ConcurrentSkipListSet which is both sorted and thread-safe.

Quick Check

A TreeSet<Integer> contains {10, 20, 30, 40, 50}. What does set.ceiling(35) return?

Recap: TreeSet and NavigableSet

Key takeaways:

TreeSet stores unique sorted elements (O(log n))
Implements NavigableSet: floor, ceiling, lower, higher, first, last
headSet, tailSet, subSet return backed range views
Use descendingSet()/descendingIterator() for reverse order
Not thread-safe — use ConcurrentSkipListSet for concurrency

Frequently asked questions

Is the “TreeSet and NavigableSet” lesson free?

Yes — the full text of “TreeSet and NavigableSet” is free to read here on the web, and the Java Academy course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Java Academy course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.

What will I learn in “TreeSet and NavigableSet”?

Store unique sorted elements and use floor, ceiling, higher, lower for nearest-neighbor queries. You practise Java Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start Java Academy?

No prior experience is required. Java Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 3 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.

How long does the “TreeSet and NavigableSet” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

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