rob griffiths

Can anyone explain to me the difference between an element type and a
component type?

In the java literature, arrays are said to have component types, whereas
collections from the Collections Framework are said to have an element
type.


http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/arrays.doc.html

states:


Reading that - I thought I'd 'got' the difference, but then in 10.1 (a
para later) the terms seem to used synonomously!


When describing collections from the Collections framework there is
never any of this ambiguity/distinction - it is always "element type",
even when talking about a collection whose elements are themselves
collections.

Am I missing a "big idea"?

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Rob

r.w.griffiths@open.ac.uk