Mastering Java: The Ultimate Quiz for 'Thinking in Java'

What changes to the load factor might affect performance?

1. Increasing it improves space efficiency but may slow lookup

2. Decreasing it uses more memory with no benefit

3. Increasing it speeds up all operations

4. Decreasing it speeds up the get() method

The correct answer is: Increasing it improves space efficiency but may slow lookup

Changes to the load factor can significantly affect the performance of a data structure, as it determines the capacity at which the structure needs to resize itself. Increasing the load factor might improve space efficiency, but this can also slow down lookups since there is now a higher chance of collisions within the data structure. Decreasing the load factor does not provide any real benefits, as it leads to higher memory usage without improving performance. Option C is incorrect, since increasing the load factor does not speed up all operations – it only improves space efficiency. Similarly, option D is incorrect as it assumes that decreasing the load factor will always speed up the get() method, which is not always the case. Therefore, option A is the correct answer.