HashMap with multiple values under the same key

Question

You could:

1. Use a map that has a list as the value. Map<KeyType, List<ValueType>>.
2. Create a new wrapper class and place instances of this wrapper in the map. Map<KeyType, WrapperType>.
3. Use a tuple like class (saves creating lots of wrappers). Map<KeyType, Tuple<Value1Type, Value2Type>>.
4. Use mulitple maps side-by-side.

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Examples

1. Map with list as the value

// create our map
Map<String, List<Person>> peopleByForename = new HashMap<>();    

// populate it
List<Person> people = new ArrayList<>();
people.add(new Person("Bob Smith"));
people.add(new Person("Bob Jones"));
peopleByForename.put("Bob", people);

// read from it
List<Person> bobs = peopleByForename["Bob"];
Person bob1 = bobs[0];
Person bob2 = bobs[1];

The disadvantage with this approach is that the list is not bound to exactly two values.

2. Using wrapper class

// define our wrapper
class Wrapper {
    public Wrapper(Person person1, Person person2) {
       this.person1 = person1;
       this.person2 = person2;
    }

    public Person getPerson1 { return this.person1; }
    public Person getPerson2 { return this.person2; }

    private Person person1;
    private Person person2;
}

// create our map
Map<String, Wrapper> peopleByForename = new HashMap<>();

// populate it
peopleByForename.put("Bob", new Wrapper(new Person("Bob Smith"),
                                        new Person("Bob Jones"));

// read from it
Wrapper bobs = peopleByForename.get("Bob");
Person bob1 = bobs.getPerson1;
Person bob2 = bobs.getPerson2;

The disadvantage to this approach is that you have to write a lot of boiler-plate code for all of these very simple container classes.

3. Using a tuple

// you'll have to write or download a Tuple class in Java, (.NET ships with one)

// create our map
Map<String, Tuple2<Person, Person> peopleByForename = new HashMap<>();

// populate it
peopleByForename.put("Bob", new Tuple2(new Person("Bob Smith",
                                       new Person("Bob Jones"));

// read from it
Tuple<Person, Person> bobs = peopleByForename["Bob"];
Person bob1 = bobs.Item1;
Person bob2 = bobs.Item2;

This is the best solution in my opinion.

4. Multiple maps

// create our maps
Map<String, Person> firstPersonByForename = new HashMap<>();
Map<String, Person> secondPersonByForename = new HashMap<>();

// populate them
firstPersonByForename.put("Bob", new Person("Bob Smith"));
secondPersonByForename.put("Bob", new Person("Bob Jones"));

// read from them
Person bob1 = firstPersonByForename["Bob"];
Person bob2 = secondPersonByForename["Bob"];

The disadvantage of this solution is that it's not obvious that the two maps are related, a programmatic error could see the two maps get out of sync.

No, not just as a HashMap. You'd basically need a HashMap from a key to a collection of values.

If you're happy to use external libraries, Guava has exactly this concept in Multimap with implementations such as ArrayListMultimap, HashMultimap, LinkedHashMultimap etc.

Multimap<String, Integer> nameToNumbers = HashMultimap.create();

System.out.println(nameToNumbers.put("Ann", 5)); // true
System.out.println(nameToNumbers.put("Ann", 5)); // false
nameToNumbers.put("Ann", 6);
nameToNumbers.put("Sam", 7);

System.out.println(nameToNumbers.size()); // 3
System.out.println(nameToNumbers.keySet().size()); // 2

Another nice choice is to use MultiValuedMap from Apache Commons. Take a look at the All Known Implementing Classes at the top of the page for specialized implementations.

Example:

HashMap<K, ArrayList<String>> map = new HashMap<K, ArrayList<String>>()

could be replaced with

MultiValuedMap<K, String> map = new MultiValuedHashMap<K, String>();

So,

map.put(key, "A");
map.put(key, "B");
map.put(key, "C");

Collection<String> coll = map.get(key);

would result in collection coll containing "A", "B", and "C".

Take a look at Multimap from the guava-libraries and its implementation - HashMultimap

A collection similar to a Map, but which may associate multiple values with a single key. If you call put(K, V) twice, with the same key but different values, the multimap contains mappings from the key to both values.

I use Map<KeyType, Object[]> for associating multiple values with a key in a Map. This way, I can store multiple values of different types associated with a key. You have to take care by maintaining proper order of inserting and retrieving from Object[].

Example: Consider, we want to store Student information. Key is id, while we would like to store name, address and email associated to the student.

       //To make entry into Map
        Map<Integer, String[]> studenMap = new HashMap<Integer, String[]>();
        String[] studentInformationArray = new String[]{"name", "address", "email"};
        int studenId = 1;
        studenMap.put(studenId, studentInformationArray);

        //To retrieve values from Map
        String name = studenMap.get(studenId)[1];
        String address = studenMap.get(studenId)[2];
        String email = studenMap.get(studenId)[3];

HashMap<Integer,ArrayList<String>> map = new    HashMap<Integer,ArrayList<String>>();

ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
list.add("abc");
list.add("xyz");
map.put(100,list);