When to use Lists, Sets, Maps or Iterables

The choice between using Lists, Sets, Maps, or Iterables in Dart depends on the nature of your data and the specific requirements of your program. Each data structure has its own characteristics and use cases.

Lists:

• Use a List when:

  • You need an ordered collection of elements.

  • You need to access elements by index.

  • Duplicate elements are allowed.

  • You want a dynamic-size collection.

List<String> fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'];

Sets:

• Use a Set when:

  • You need an unordered collection of unique elements.

  • You want to ensure that elements are distinct.

  • You don't need to access elements by index.

Set<String> uniqueFruits = {'apple', 'banana', 'orange'};

Maps:

• Use a Map when:

  • You need to associate keys with values.

  • You want to perform lookups based on keys.

  • You want a key-value pair data structure.

Map<String, int> ages = {'Alice': 25, 'Bob': 30, 'Charlie': 22};

Iterables:

• Use an Iterable when:

  • You want to represent a sequence of elements that can be iterated.

  • You want to use common iterable operations like forEach, map, where, etc.

  • You don't need direct access to elements by index.

  • You are creating custom iterable classes.

Iterable<int> countdown = CountdownIterable(5, 1);