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How to create a HashMap with two keys (Key-Pair, Value)?


I have a 2D array of Integers. I want them to be put into a HashMap. But I want to access the elements from the HashMap based on Array Index. Something like:

For A[2][5], map.get(2,5) which returns a value associated with that key. But how do I create a hashMap with a pair of keys? Or in general, multiple keys: Map<((key1, key2,..,keyN), Value) in a way that I can access the element with using get(key1,key2,...keyN).

EDIT : 3 years after posting the question, I want to add a bit more to it

I came across another way for NxN matrix.

Array indices, i and j can be represented as a single key the following way:

int key = i * N + j;
//map.put(key, a[i][j]); // queue.add(key); 

And the indices can be retrevied from the key in this way:

int i = key / N;
int j = key % N;

Solution

  • There are several options:

    2 dimensions

    Map of maps

    Map<Integer, Map<Integer, V>> map = //...
    //...
    
    map.get(2).get(5);
    

    Wrapper key object

    public class Key {
    
        private final int x;
        private final int y;
    
        public Key(int x, int y) {
            this.x = x;
            this.y = y;
        }
    
        @Override
        public boolean equals(Object o) {
            if (this == o) return true;
            if (!(o instanceof Key)) return false;
            Key key = (Key) o;
            return x == key.x && y == key.y;
        }
    
        @Override
        public int hashCode() {
            int result = x;
            result = 31 * result + y;
            return result;
        }
    
    }
    

    Implementing equals() and hashCode() is crucial here. Then you simply use:

    Map<Key, V> map = //...
    

    and:

    map.get(new Key(2, 5));
    

    Table from Guava

    Table<Integer, Integer, V> table = HashBasedTable.create();
    //...
    
    table.get(2, 5);
    

    Table uses map of maps underneath.

    N dimensions

    Notice that special Key class is the only approach that scales to n-dimensions. You might also consider:

    Map<List<Integer>, V> map = //...
    

    but that's terrible from performance perspective, as well as readability and correctness (no easy way to enforce list size).

    Maybe take a look at Scala where you have tuples and case classes (replacing whole Key class with one-liner).