Java is emerging as a prevalent programming language these days. Java offers various advantages over other programming languages. There are multiple essential concepts in java that form its base. One such concept is entrySet java.
The Java HashMap.entrySet() method is used to convert the elements within a HashMap into a Set. This provides a convenient way to access and manipulate the elements stored in the HashMap.
Let us dive deep into the topic now.
What is Hashmap?
Our primary focus in this blog is to discuss the hashmap entrySet java. For this, one should have prior knowledge of hashmaps. Let us first explore hashmaps!
HashMap Class in Java
HashMap class in java is a very popular class due to the advantages that it provides. It provides the hash table data structure. The main property of hashmaps is that they store the data in the form of key-value pairs. This helps in the easy retrieval of the data.
Operations On Hashmaps
Hashmaps are of immense importance in writing some programs. Let us see some of the operations that we can perform on hashmaps are as follows.
Accessing the elements
Adding the elements
Altering the elements
Deleting the elements
Example
Let us now create a hashmap in java for a better understanding of the concept.
Java
Java
import java.util.HashMap; class hashmap { public static void main(String[] args) {
HashMap<String, Integer> cars = new HashMap<>(); // declaring a hashmap
cars.put("Maruti", 5); // putting elements into the hashmap cars.put("Honda", 100); System.out.println("HashMap created is : " + cars); } }
Output
In the given example, we have created a hashmap named cars. We have stored the data in key-value pairs.
The pictorial representation of a hashmap for this example is shown.
HashMap entrySet() Method in Java
The entrySet() method in Java's HashMap class is a powerful tool for working with the key-value pairs within a HashMap. Here's a breakdown of its functionality:
Purpose:
Returns a Set view of the key-value mappings present in the HashMap.
This set view doesn't contain the individual keys or values themselves, but rather objects of type Map.Entry<K, V>. These Entry objects encapsulate a key-value pair.
Benefits:
Allows you to iterate over both the keys and values of the HashMap simultaneously using a single loop.
Enables you to modify the HashMap by removing or updating key-value pairs through the Entry objects in the set view.
Syntax
hashmap_obj.entrySet()
Here assume that we have created a class of Hashmap and hashmap_obj is an object of that class.
One important thing that we can infer from the syntax is that the brackets are empty. This means that entrySet java takes no parameters.
It is precisely written as java.util.HashMap.entrySet().
If we want to iterate through each data entry of the hashmap. We can use entrySet() with the for-each loop. The example to illustrate this is as follows.
Parameters
The `entrySet()` method doesn't take any parameters. It directly operates on the existing HashMap instance.
Return Value
The `entrySet()` method returns a Set view of the key-value mappings present in the HashMap. It doesn't contain the individual keys or values themselves, but rather objects of type Map.Entry<K, V>. These Entry objects encapsulate a key-value pair.
entrySet() in Java returns a set view of key-value pairs (Map.Entry objects) from a HashMap.
What is the difference between keySet and entrySet?
keySet() returns a set view of only the keys in a HashMap, while entrySet() provides both keys and values together as Map.Entry objects.
What does keySet() do?
keySet() in Java returns a set view containing all the unique keys present in a HashMap.
Does entrySet maintain order in Java?
No, the order of elements in the entrySet() of a HashMap is not guaranteed to be the insertion order or based on keys. It might vary depending on the HashMap implementation.
Conclusion
In this blog, we discussed the entrySet() method in java in detail. We started with a discussion of java and its advantages. The blog further explored the hashmaps in detail. We also coded out an example of a hashmap for a better understanding. We then saw some important points about entrySet java and an example to better understand the concept.