Parallel data processing and performance - Java 8 in Action: Lambdas, Streams, and Functional-Style Programming - page 214

Figure 7.6. The recursive splitting process

This splitting process can also be influenced by the characteristics of the Spliterator itself, which
are declared via the characteristics method.

The Spliterator characteristics

The last abstract method declared by the Spliterator interface is characteristics, which returns
an int encoding the set of characteristics of the Spliterator itself. The Spliterator clients can use
these characteristics to better control and optimize its usage. Table 7.2 summarizes them.
(Unfortunately, although these conceptually overlap with characteristics of a collector, they're
coded differently.)

Table 7.2. Spliterator 's characteristics

Characteristic Meaning

ORDERED Elements have a defined order (for example, a List), so the Spliterator enforces this

order when traversing and partitioning them.