HashMap<String, Integer> Search for part of an key? [duplicate]

Question

I am currently using HashMap<String, Integer> which is filled with keys of type String which are all, let's say, 5 chars long. How can I search for an specific key of 4 chars or less, which is part and at the beginning of some other keys and get all hits as a collection of <Key, Value>?

Answer 1

Iterate is your only option unless you create a custom data structure:

for (Entry<String, Integer> e : map.entrySet()) {
    if (e.getKey().startsWith("xxxx")) {
        //add to my result list
    }
}

If you need something more time efficient then you'd need an implementation of map where you are tracking these partial keys.

Answer 2

It seems like a use case for TreeMap rather than HashMap. The difference is that TreeMap preserves order. So you can find your partial match much quicker. You don't have to go through the whole map.

Check this question Partial search in HashMap

Answer 3

You cannot do this via HashMap, you should write your own implementation for Map for implementing string length based searching in a map.