# import collections

**[import collections](https://docs.python.org/3/library/collections.html)** is a Python import that provides specialized container types: `Counter`, `defaultdict`, `OrderedDict`, `namedtuple`, and `deque`. Use these when the standard `dict`, `list`, and `tuple` don't fit your use case.

## Example

```python
# Python
# description: count elements, use defaultdict, create namedtuple

from collections import Counter, defaultdict, namedtuple

# Count occurrences
words = ["apple", "banana", "apple", "cherry", "apple"]
counts = Counter(words)
print(counts["apple"])  # 3
print(counts.most_common(2))  # [('apple', 3), ('banana', 1)]

# Default values for missing keys
graph = defaultdict(list)
graph["a"].append("b")
graph["b"].append("a")

# Immutable named tuple
Point = namedtuple("Point", ["x", "y"])
p = Point(10, 20)
print(p.x, p.y)  # 10 20
```

## Common types

- `Counter`: count hashable items
- `defaultdict`: dict with default value for missing keys
- `OrderedDict`: dict that remembers insertion order (Python 3.7+ makes this default)
- `namedtuple`: immutable tuple with named fields
- `deque`: double-ended queue, efficient insertion at both ends