posted 15 years ago
Ordered vs. unordered: An ordered collection is a collection which holds its elements in a defined order (a List, for example, is an ordered collection). An unordered collection holds elements, but not in a defined order. It is like a bag with things in it - the things are just jumbled up together in the bag, and not in any specific order. A Set is an example of an unordered collection.
Sorted vs. unsorted: When the elements of an ordered collection are placed in a specific, defined order (for example, strings in alphabetical order), then the collection is sorted. Ofcourse, only ordered collections can be sorted.