This interface takes the place of the Dictionary class, which * was a totally abstract class rather than an interface. * *
The Map interface provides three collection views, which * allow a map's contents to be viewed as a set of keys, collection of values, * or set of key-value mappings. The order of a map is defined as * the order in which the iterators on the map's collection views return their * elements. Some map implementations, like the TreeMap class, make * specific guarantees as to their order; others, like the HashMap * class, do not. * *
Note: great care must be exercised if mutable objects are used as map * keys. The behavior of a map is not specified if the value of an object is * changed in a manner that affects equals comparisons while the * object is a key in the map. A special case of this prohibition is that it * is not permissible for a map to contain itself as a key. While it is * permissible for a map to contain itself as a value, extreme caution is * advised: the equals and hashCode methods are no longer * well defined on such a map. * *
All general-purpose map implementation classes should provide two * "standard" constructors: a void (no arguments) constructor which creates an * empty map, and a constructor with a single argument of type Map, * which creates a new map with the same key-value mappings as its argument. * In effect, the latter constructor allows the user to copy any map, * producing an equivalent map of the desired class. There is no way to * enforce this recommendation (as interfaces cannot contain constructors) but * all of the general-purpose map implementations in the JDK comply. * *
The "destructive" methods contained in this interface, that is, the * methods that modify the map on which they operate, are specified to throw * UnsupportedOperationException if this map does not support the * operation. If this is the case, these methods may, but are not required * to, throw an UnsupportedOperationException if the invocation would * have no effect on the map. For example, invoking the {@link #putAll(Map)} * method on an unmodifiable map may, but is not required to, throw the * exception if the map whose mappings are to be "superimposed" is empty. * *
Some map implementations have restrictions on the keys and values they * may contain. For example, some implementations prohibit null keys and * values, and some have restrictions on the types of their keys. Attempting * to insert an ineligible key or value throws an unchecked exception, * typically NullPointerException or ClassCastException. * Attempting to query the presence of an ineligible key or value may throw an * exception, or it may simply return false; some implementations will exhibit * the former behavior and some will exhibit the latter. More generally, * attempting an operation on an ineligible key or value whose completion * would not result in the insertion of an ineligible element into the map may * throw an exception or it may succeed, at the option of the implementation. * Such exceptions are marked as "optional" in the specification for this * interface. * *
This interface is a member of the * * Java Collections Framework. * *
Many methods in Collections Framework interfaces are defined
* in terms of the {@link Object#equals(Object) equals} method. For
* example, the specification for the {@link #containsKey(Object)
* containsKey(Object key)} method says: "returns true if and
* only if this map contains a mapping for a key k such that
* (key==null ? k==null : key.equals(k))." This specification should
* not be construed to imply that invoking Map.containsKey
* with a non-null argument key will cause key.equals(k) to
* be invoked for any key k. Implementations are free to
* implement optimizations whereby the equals invocation is avoided,
* for example, by first comparing the hash codes of the two keys. (The
* {@link Object#hashCode()} specification guarantees that two objects with
* unequal hash codes cannot be equal.) More generally, implementations of
* the various Collections Framework interfaces are free to take advantage of
* the specified behavior of underlying {@link Object} methods wherever the
* implementor deems it appropriate.
*
* @param More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key
* {@code k} to a value {@code v} such that {@code (key==null ? k==null :
* key.equals(k))}, then this method returns {@code v}; otherwise
* it returns {@code null}. (There can be at most one such mapping.)
*
* If this map permits null values, then a return value of
* {@code null} does not necessarily indicate that the map
* contains no mapping for the key; it's also possible that the map
* explicitly maps the key to {@code null}. The {@link #containsKey
* containsKey} operation may be used to distinguish these two cases.
*
* @param key the key whose associated value is to be returned
* @return the value to which the specified key is mapped, or
* {@code null} if this map contains no mapping for the key
* @throws ClassCastException if the key is of an inappropriate type for
* this map
* (optional)
* @throws NullPointerException if the specified key is null and this map
* does not permit null keys
* (optional)
*/
V get(Object key);
// Modification Operations
/**
* Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map
* (optional operation). If the map previously contained a mapping for
* the key, the old value is replaced by the specified value. (A map
* m is said to contain a mapping for a key k if and only
* if {@link #containsKey(Object) m.containsKey(k)} would return
* true.)
*
* @param key key with which the specified value is to be associated
* @param value value to be associated with the specified key
* @return the previous value associated with key, or
* null if there was no mapping for key.
* (A null return can also indicate that the map
* previously associated null with key,
* if the implementation supports null values.)
* @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the put operation
* is not supported by this map
* @throws ClassCastException if the class of the specified key or value
* prevents it from being stored in this map
* @throws NullPointerException if the specified key or value is null
* and this map does not permit null keys or values
* @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of the specified key
* or value prevents it from being stored in this map
*/
V put(K key, V value);
/**
* Removes the mapping for a key from this map if it is present
* (optional operation). More formally, if this map contains a mapping
* from key k to value v such that
* Returns the value to which this map previously associated the key,
* or null if the map contained no mapping for the key.
*
* If this map permits null values, then a return value of
* null does not necessarily indicate that the map
* contained no mapping for the key; it's also possible that the map
* explicitly mapped the key to null.
*
* The map will not contain a mapping for the specified key once the
* call returns.
*
* @param key key whose mapping is to be removed from the map
* @return the previous value associated with key, or
* null if there was no mapping for key.
* @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the remove operation
* is not supported by this map
* @throws ClassCastException if the key is of an inappropriate type for
* this map
* (optional)
* @throws NullPointerException if the specified key is null and this
* map does not permit null keys
* (optional)
*/
V remove(Object key);
// Bulk Operations
/**
* Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this map
* (optional operation). The effect of this call is equivalent to that
* of calling {@link #put(Object,Object) put(k, v)} on this map once
* for each mapping from key k to value v in the
* specified map. The behavior of this operation is undefined if the
* specified map is modified while the operation is in progress.
*
* @param m mappings to be stored in this map
* @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the putAll operation
* is not supported by this map
* @throws ClassCastException if the class of a key or value in the
* specified map prevents it from being stored in this map
* @throws NullPointerException if the specified map is null, or if
* this map does not permit null keys or values, and the
* specified map contains null keys or values
* @throws IllegalArgumentException if some property of a key or value in
* the specified map prevents it from being stored in this map
*/
void putAll(Map m);
/**
* Removes all of the mappings from this map (optional operation).
* The map will be empty after this call returns.
*
* @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the clear operation
* is not supported by this map
*/
void clear();
// Views
/**
* Returns a {@link Set} view of the keys contained in this map.
* The set is backed by the map, so changes to the map are
* reflected in the set, and vice-versa. If the map is modified
* while an iteration over the set is in progress (except through
* the iterator's own remove operation), the results of
* the iteration are undefined. The set supports element removal,
* which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the
* Iterator.remove, Set.remove,
* removeAll, retainAll, and clear
* operations. It does not support the add or addAll
* operations.
*
* @return a set view of the keys contained in this map
*/
Set(key==null ? k==null : key.equals(k)), that mapping
* is removed. (The map can contain at most one such mapping.)
*
*
* (e1.getKey()==null ?
* e2.getKey()==null : e1.getKey().equals(e2.getKey())) &&
* (e1.getValue()==null ?
* e2.getValue()==null : e1.getValue().equals(e2.getValue()))
*
* This ensures that the equals method works properly across
* different implementations of the Map.Entry interface.
*
* @param o object to be compared for equality with this map entry
* @return true if the specified object is equal to this map
* entry
*/
boolean equals(Object o);
/**
* Returns the hash code value for this map entry. The hash code
* of a map entry e is defined to be:
* (e.getKey()==null ? 0 : e.getKey().hashCode()) ^
* (e.getValue()==null ? 0 : e.getValue().hashCode())
*
* This ensures that e1.equals(e2) implies that
* e1.hashCode()==e2.hashCode() for any two Entries
* e1 and e2, as required by the general
* contract of Object.hashCode.
*
* @return the hash code value for this map entry
* @see Object#hashCode()
* @see Object#equals(Object)
* @see #equals(Object)
*/
int hashCode();
}
// Comparison and hashing
/**
* Compares the specified object with this map for equality. Returns
* true if the given object is also a map and the two maps
* represent the same mappings. More formally, two maps m1 and
* m2 represent the same mappings if
* m1.entrySet().equals(m2.entrySet()). This ensures that the
* equals method works properly across different implementations
* of the Map interface.
*
* @param o object to be compared for equality with this map
* @return true if the specified object is equal to this map
*/
boolean equals(Object o);
/**
* Returns the hash code value for this map. The hash code of a map is
* defined to be the sum of the hash codes of each entry in the map's
* entrySet() view. This ensures that m1.equals(m2)
* implies that m1.hashCode()==m2.hashCode() for any two maps
* m1 and m2, as required by the general contract of
* {@link Object#hashCode}.
*
* @return the hash code value for this map
* @see Map.Entry#hashCode()
* @see Object#equals(Object)
* @see #equals(Object)
*/
int hashCode();
}