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In Java, ArrayList and HashMap are used as collections. But I couldn't understand in which situations we should use ArrayList and which times to use HashMap. What is the major difference between both of them?
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The difference between ArrayList and HashMap is that ArrayList is an index-based data-structure supported by array, while the HashMap is a mapped data structure, which works on hashing to retrieve stored values. Although both are used to store objects, they are different in their implementation, function, and usage.
ArrayMap is a map (key -> value pairs). ArrayList is a list (a sequence of items). The JavaDoc tells you. It's generally slower but aims to reduce the memory footprint.
The ArrayList has O(n) performance for every search, so for n searches its performance is O(n^2). The HashMap has O(1) performance for every search (on average), so for n searches its performance will be O(n). While the HashMap will be slower at first and take more memory, it will be faster for large values of n.
Arrays can have duplicate values, while HashMap cannot have duplicated keys (but they can have identical values.) The Array has a key (index) that is always a number from 0 to max value, while in a HashMap, you have control of the key, and it can be whatever you want: number, string, or symbol.
Hashmap is the implementation of Map interface. Hashset on other hand is the implementation of set interface. Hashmap internally do not implements hashset or any set for its implementation. Hashset internally uses Hashmap for its implementation.
You are asking specifically about ArrayList and HashMap, but I think to fully understand what is going on you have to understand the Collections framework. So an ArrayList implements the List interface and a HashMap implements the Map interface. So the real question is when do you want to use a List and when do you want to use a Map. This is where the Java API documentation helps a lot.
List:
An ordered collection (also known as a sequence). The user of this interface has precise control over where in the list each element is inserted. The user can access elements by their integer index (position in the list), and search for elements in the list.
Map:
An object that maps keys to values. A map cannot contain duplicate keys; each key can map to at most one value.
So as other answers have discussed, the list interface (ArrayList) is an ordered collection of objects that you access using an index, much like an array (well in the case of ArrayList, as the name suggests, it is just an array in the background, but a lot of the details of dealing with the array are handled for you). You would use an ArrayList when you want to keep things in sorted order (the order they are added, or indeed the position within the list that you specify when you add the object).
A Map on the other hand takes one object and uses that as a key (index) to another object (the value). So lets say you have objects which have unique IDs, and you know you are going to want to access these objects by ID at some point, the Map will make this very easy on you (and quicker/more efficient). The HashMap implementation uses the hash value of the key object to locate where it is stored, so there is no guarentee of the order of the values anymore. There are however other classes in the Java API that can provide this, e.g. LinkedHashMap, which as well as using a hash table to store the key/value pairs, also maintains a List (LinkedList) of the keys in the order they were added, so you can always access the items again in the order they were added (if needed).
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