Great! Another useful built-in data structure in Java is the HashMap.
Although the name of the data structure might not make sense to you immediately, think of it as a real-life dictionary. A dictionary contains a set of words and a definition for each word. A HashMap contains a set of keys and a value for each key.
If we look up a word in a dictionary, we can get the definition. If you provide a HashMap with a key that exists, you can retrieve the value associated with the key.
Declaring a HashMap is shown in the following example:
HashMap<String, Integer> myFriends = new HashMap<String, Integer>();
In the example above, we create a HashMap
object called myFriends
. The myFriends
HashMap will store keys
of String
data types and values
of type Integer
.
Note: the String
object allows you to store multiple characters, such as a word in quotations (e.g. "Rats!"
).
Instructions
Create a HashMap
object called restaurantMenu
. The HashMap
should store String
keys and Integer
values. Use the syntax in the example above if you need.