HashMap with multiple values under the same key
You could:
- Use a map that has a list as the value.
Map<KeyType, List<ValueType>>
. - Create a new wrapper class and place instances of this wrapper in the map.
Map<KeyType, WrapperType>
. - Use a tuple like class (saves creating lots of wrappers).
Map<KeyType, Tuple<Value1Type, Value2Type>>
. - Use mulitple maps side-by-side.
Examples
1. Map with list as the value
// create our map
Map<String, List<Person>> peopleByForename = new HashMap<>();
// populate it
List<Person> people = new ArrayList<>();
people.add(new Person("Bob Smith"));
people.add(new Person("Bob Jones"));
peopleByForename.put("Bob", people);
// read from it
List<Person> bobs = peopleByForename["Bob"];
Person bob1 = bobs[0];
Person bob2 = bobs[1];
The disadvantage with this approach is that the list is not bound to exactly two values.
2. Using wrapper class
// define our wrapper
class Wrapper {
public Wrapper(Person person1, Person person2) {
this.person1 = person1;
this.person2 = person2;
}
public Person getPerson1() { return this.person1; }
public Person getPerson2() { return this.person2; }
private Person person1;
private Person person2;
}
// create our map
Map<String, Wrapper> peopleByForename = new HashMap<>();
// populate it
peopleByForename.put("Bob", new Wrapper(new Person("Bob Smith"),
new Person("Bob Jones"));
// read from it
Wrapper bobs = peopleByForename.get("Bob");
Person bob1 = bobs.getPerson1();
Person bob2 = bobs.getPerson2();
The disadvantage to this approach is that you have to write a lot of boiler-plate code for all of these very simple container classes.
3. Using a tuple
// you'll have to write or download a Tuple class in Java, (.NET ships with one)
// create our map
Map<String, Tuple2<Person, Person> peopleByForename = new HashMap<>();
// populate it
peopleByForename.put("Bob", new Tuple2(new Person("Bob Smith",
new Person("Bob Jones"));
// read from it
Tuple<Person, Person> bobs = peopleByForename["Bob"];
Person bob1 = bobs.Item1;
Person bob2 = bobs.Item2;
This is the best solution in my opinion.
4. Multiple maps
// create our maps
Map<String, Person> firstPersonByForename = new HashMap<>();
Map<String, Person> secondPersonByForename = new HashMap<>();
// populate them
firstPersonByForename.put("Bob", new Person("Bob Smith"));
secondPersonByForename.put("Bob", new Person("Bob Jones"));
// read from them
Person bob1 = firstPersonByForename["Bob"];
Person bob2 = secondPersonByForename["Bob"];
The disadvantage of this solution is that it's not obvious that the two maps are related, a programmatic error could see the two maps get out of sync.
No, not just as a HashMap
. You'd basically need a HashMap
from a key to a collection of values.
If you're happy to use external libraries, Guava has exactly this concept in Multimap
with implementations such as ArrayListMultimap
, HashMultimap
, LinkedHashMultimap
etc.
Multimap<String, Integer> nameToNumbers = HashMultimap.create();
System.out.println(nameToNumbers.put("Ann", 5)); // true
System.out.println(nameToNumbers.put("Ann", 5)); // false
nameToNumbers.put("Ann", 6);
nameToNumbers.put("Sam", 7);
System.out.println(nameToNumbers.size()); // 3
System.out.println(nameToNumbers.keySet().size()); // 2