I have two Maps that contain the same type of Objects: Map<String, TaskJSO> a = new HashMap<String, TaskJSO>(); Map<String, TaskJSO> b = new HashMap<String, TaskJSO>(); public class TaskJSO { String id; } The map keys are the "id" properties. a.put(taskJSO.getId(), taskJSO); I want to obtain a list with: all values in "Map b" + all values in "Map a" that are not in "Map b". What is the fastest way of doing this operation? Thanks EDIT: The comparaison is done by id. So, two TaskJSOs are considered as equal if they have the same id (equals method is overrided). My intention is to know which is the fastest way of doing this operation from a performance point of view. For instance, is there any difference if I do the "comparaison" in a map (as suggested by Peter): Map<String, TaskJSO> ab = new HashMap<String, TaskJSO>(a); ab.putAll(b); ab.values() or if instead I use a set (as suggested by Nishant): Set s = new Hashset(); s.addAll(a.values()); s.addAll(b.values());