C# Java HashMap equivalent

Solution 1:

Dictionary is probably the closest. System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary implements the System.Collections.Generic.IDictionary interface (which is similar to Java's Map interface).

Some notable differences that you should be aware of:

• Adding/Getting items
  • Java's HashMap has the put and get methods for setting/getting items
    • myMap.put(key, value)
    • MyObject value = myMap.get(key)
  • C#'s Dictionary uses [] indexing for setting/getting items
    • myDictionary[key] = value
    • MyObject value = myDictionary[key]
• null keys
  • Java's HashMap allows null keys
  • .NET's Dictionary throws an ArgumentNullException if you try to add a null key
• Adding a duplicate key
  • Java's HashMap will replace the existing value with the new one.
  • .NET's Dictionary will replace the existing value with the new one if you use [] indexing. If you use the Add method, it will instead throw an ArgumentException.
• Attempting to get a non-existent key
  • Java's HashMap will return null.
  • .NET's Dictionary will throw a KeyNotFoundException. You can use the TryGetValue method instead of the [] indexing to avoid this:
    MyObject value = null; if (!myDictionary.TryGetValue(key, out value)) { /* key doesn't exist */ }

Dictionary's has a ContainsKey method that can help deal with the previous two problems.

Solution 2:

From C# equivalent to Java HashMap

I needed a Dictionary which accepted a "null" key, but there seems to be no native one, so I have written my own. It's very simple, actually. I inherited from Dictionary, added a private field to hold the value for the "null" key, then overwritten the indexer. It goes like this :

public class NullableDictionnary : Dictionary<string, string>
{
    string null_value;

    public StringDictionary this[string key]
    {
        get
        {
            if (key == null) 
            {
                return null_value;
            }
            return base[key];
        }
        set
        {
            if (key == null)
            {
                null_value = value;
            }
            else 
            {
                base[key] = value;
            }
        }
    }
}

Hope this helps someone in the future.

==========

I modified it to this format

public class NullableDictionnary : Dictionary<string, object>

Solution 3:

Let me help you understand it with an example of "codaddict's algorithm"

'Dictionary in C#' is 'Hashmap in Java' in parallel universe.

Some implementations are different. See the example below to understand better.

Declaring Java HashMap:

Map<Integer, Integer> pairs = new HashMap<Integer, Integer>();

Declaring C# Dictionary:

Dictionary<int, int> Pairs = new Dictionary<int, int>();

Getting a value from a location:

pairs.get(input[i]); // in Java
Pairs[input[i]];     // in C#

Setting a value at location:

pairs.put(k - input[i], input[i]); // in Java
Pairs[k - input[i]] = input[i];    // in C#

An Overall Example can be observed from below Codaddict's algorithm.

codaddict's algorithm in Java:

import java.util.HashMap;

public class ArrayPairSum {

    public static void printSumPairs(int[] input, int k)
    {
        Map<Integer, Integer> pairs = new HashMap<Integer, Integer>();

        for (int i = 0; i < input.length; i++)
        {
            if (pairs.containsKey(input[i]))
                System.out.println(input[i] + ", " + pairs.get(input[i]));
            else
                pairs.put(k - input[i], input[i]);
        }

    }

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        int[] a = { 2, 45, 7, 3, 5, 1, 8, 9 };
        printSumPairs(a, 10);

    }
}

Codaddict's algorithm in C#

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class Program
{
    static void checkPairs(int[] input, int k)
    {
        Dictionary<int, int> Pairs = new Dictionary<int, int>();

        for (int i = 0; i < input.Length; i++)
        {
            if (Pairs.ContainsKey(input[i]))
            {
                Console.WriteLine(input[i] + ", " + Pairs[input[i]]);
            }
            else
            {
                Pairs[k - input[i]] = input[i];
            }
        }
    }
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int[] a = { 2, 45, 7, 3, 5, 1, 8, 9 };
        //method : codaddict's algorithm : O(n)
        checkPairs(a, 10);
        Console.Read();
    }
}

Solution 4:

Check out the documentation on MSDN for the Hashtable class.

Represents a collection of key-and-value pairs that are organized based on the hash code of the key.

Also, keep in mind that this is not thread-safe.

Solution 5:

Use Dictionary - it uses hashtable but is typesafe.

Also, your Java code for

int a = map.get(key);
//continue with your logic

will be best coded in C# this way:

int a;
if(dict.TryGetValue(key, out a)){
//continue with your logic
}

This way, you can scope the need of variable "a" inside a block and it is still accessible outside the block if you need it later.