Think of a list of contacts on a phone. We can search by name to find the associated phone number. In programming, we often need to connect one data piece with another. This association is what maps are perfect for!
A map is an unordered collection of keys and values. Here is an example of connecting a key of type string
with a value of type int
:
Key | Value |
---|---|
Joe | 2126778723 |
Angela | 4089978763 |
Shawn | 3143776876 |
Terell | 5026754531 |
We are able to access map values by looking them up with a key. Unlike an array, values in a map are not accessed by indices. Maps allow for very fast lookups by organizing the values for retrieval.
We use maps for tasks such as:
- Counting the number of times unique names appear in a list.
- Mapping simple identifiers, such as an employee id, to related values.
- Anytime we need to associate any piece of data with another!
Throughout this lesson, we will introduce:
- Creating maps
- Accessing map values
- Adding and modifying values
- Removing key-value pairs
To begin using maps, we will first have to create them. We will get started in the next exercise!
Instructions
We’ve provided an example of a map! Try running the program and look at the output.