Collection is a data structure that holds multiple items, like an array or list, and is used everywhere in programming. If you're a software engineer, you probably use collections more than you use the bathroom (and if you're drinking enough water, that's saying something).

How to use it in a sentence

• "I need to store all these user objects in a collection so I can loop through them later and send out a bunch of spammy emails."

• "Hold up, before you try to directly modify that collection, remember what your old CS professor said about encapsulation - use the damn accessor methods!"

If you actually want to learn more...

• Encapsulated Collection - Martin Fowler explains why directly returning a collection is a no-no and how to properly encapsulate it. Worth a read if you want to avoid getting chewed out in your next code review.

• Collection Pipeline - Fowler strikes again with an in-depth look at using collections in pipelines. It's like Unix pipes on steroids, and who doesn't love a good pipeline?

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