Maps
Index operations in arrays are fast, simple, and easy to understand, with one drawback: they only work with integers. Since an array is a continuous portion in memory that can be accessed by dividing it evenly, which makes the jumps between the elements easy, can this work with arbitrary keys as well? Yes! Enter maps.
Maps (also called dictionaries or associative arrays), are data structures that store and manage unique key-value pairs in an efficient way. These structures aim to quickly provide access to the values associated with the keys that are typically stored in one of the following two ways:
- A hashtable
- A tree
When key-value pairs are stored in a tree, the result is very similar to what was discussed in the previous chapter: self-balancing trees will provide consistent performance, avoiding the worst-case cost of a hash map.
Since trees have been discussed extensively in the previous chapter, the hash map is the main focus in this section. It uses a hashing function to translate...
