How HashMap Works in Java

1 What is Hashing

Hashing in its simplest form, is a way to assigning a unique code for any variable/object after applying any formula/algorithm on its properties.

A true hash function must follow this rule –

“Hash function should return the same hash code each and every time when the function is applied on same or equal objects. In other words, two equal objects must produce the same hash code consistently.”

All objects in Java inherit a default implementation of hashCode() function defined in Object class. This function produces hash code by typically converting the internal address of the object into an integer, thus producing different hash codes for all different objects.

2 What is HashMap

HashMap is a part of the Java collection framework. It uses a technique called Hashing. It implements the map interface. It stores the data in the pair of Key and Value. HashMap contains an array of the nodes, and the node is represented as a class. It uses an array and LinkedList data structure internally for storing Key and Value. There are four fields in HashMap.
Before understanding the internal working of HashMap, you must be aware of hashCode() and equals() method.

• equals(): It checks the equality of two objects. It compares the Key, whether they are equal or not. It is a method of the Object class. It can be overridden. If you override the equals() method, then it is mandatory to override the hashCode() method.
• hashCode(): This is the method of the object class. It returns the memory reference of the object in integer form. The value received from the method is used as the bucket number. The bucket number is the address of the element inside the map. Hash code of null Key is 0.
• Buckets: Array of the node is called buckets. Each node has a data structure like a LinkedList. More than one node can share the same bucket. It may be different in capacity.

2.1 Insert Key, Value pair in HashMap

We use put() method to insert the Key and Value pair in the HashMap. The default size of HashMap is 16 (0 to 15).

2.1.1 Example

In the following example, we want to insert three (Key, Value) pair in the HashMap.

HashMap<String, Integer> map = new HashMap<>();  
map.put("Aman", 19);  
map.put("Sunny", 29);  
map.put("Ritesh", 39);  

Let’s see at which index the Key, value pair will be saved into HashMap. When we call the put() method, then it calculates the hash code of the Key “Aman.” Suppose the hash code of “Aman” is 2657860. To store the Key in memory, we have to calculate the index.

2.1.2 Calculating Index

Index minimizes the size of the array. The Formula for calculating the index is:

Index = hashcode(Key) & (n-1)  

Where n is the size of the array. Hence the index value for “Aman” is:

Index = 2657860 & (16-1) = 4  

The value 4 is the computed index value where the Key and value will store in HashMap.

2.1.3 Hash Collision

This is the case when the calculated index value is the same for two or more Keys. Let’s calculate the hash code for another Key “Sunny.” Suppose the hash code for “Sunny” is 63281940. To store the Key in the memory, we have to calculate index by using the index formula.

Index=63281940 & (16-1) = 4  

The value 4 is the computed index value where the Key will be stored in HashMap. In this case, equals() method check that both Keys are equal or not. If Keys are same, replace the value with the current value. Otherwise, connect this node object to the existing node object through the LinkedList. Hence both Keys will be stored at index 4.

Similarly, we will store the Key “Ritesh.” Suppose hash code for the Key is 2349873. The index value will be 1. Hence this Key will be stored at index 1.

2.2 get() method in HashMap

get() method is used to get the value by its Key. It will not fetch the value if you don’t know the Key. When get(K Key) method is called, it calculates the hash code of the Key.

Suppose we have to fetch the Key “Aman.” The following method will be called.

map.get(new Key("Aman"));  

It generates the hash code as 2657860. Now calculate the index value of 2657860 by using index formula. The index value will be 4, as we have calculated above. get() method search for the index value 4. It compares the first element Key with the given Key. If both keys are equal, then it returns the value else check for the next element in the node if it exists. In our scenario, it is found as the first element of the node and return the value 19.

Let’s fetch another Key “Sunny.”

The hash code of the Key “Sunny” is 63281940. The calculated index value of 63281940 is 4, as we have calculated for put() method. Go to index 4 of the array and compare the first element’s Key with the given Key. It also compares Keys. In our scenario, the given Key is the second element, and the next of the node is null. It compares the second element Key with the specified Key and returns the value 29. It returns null if the next of the node is null.

2.3 Following are few key points to note about HashMaps in Java -

• A HashMap cannot contain duplicate keys.

• Java HashMap allows null values and the null key.

• HashMap is an unordered collection. It does not guarantee any specific order of the elements.

• Java HashMap is not thread-safe. You must explicitly synchronize concurrent modifications to the HashMap.

3 HashMap Usage

3.1 Accessing keys and modifying their associated value in a HashMap

The example below shows:

• How to check if a HashMap is empty | isEmpty()
• How to find the size of a HashMap | size()
• How to check if a given key exists in a HashMap | containsKey()
• How to check if a given value exists in a HashMap | containsValue()
• How to get the value associated with a given key in the HashMap | get()
• How to modify the value associated with a given key in the HashMap | put()

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class AccessKeysFromHashMapExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, String> userCityMapping = new HashMap<>();

        // Check if a HashMap is empty
        System.out.println("is userCityMapping empty? : " + userCityMapping.isEmpty());

        userCityMapping.put("John", "New York");
        userCityMapping.put("Rajeev", "Bengaluru");
        userCityMapping.put("Steve", "London");

        System.out.println("userCityMapping HashMap : " + userCityMapping);

        // Find the size of a HashMap
        System.out.println("We have the city information of " + userCityMapping.size() + " users");

        String userName = "Steve";
        // Check if a key exists in the HashMap
        if(userCityMapping.containsKey(userName)) {
            // Get the value assigned to a given key in the HashMap
            String city = userCityMapping.get(userName);
            System.out.println(userName + " lives in " + city);
        } else {
            System.out.println("City details not found for user " + userName);
        }

        // Check if a value exists in a HashMap
        if(userCityMapping.containsValue("New York")) {
            System.out.println("There is a user in the userCityMapping who lives in New York");
        } else {
            System.out.println("There is no user in the userCityMapping who lives in New York");
        }


        // Modify the value assigned to an existing key
        userCityMapping.put(userName, "California");
        System.out.println(userName + " moved to a new city " + userCityMapping.get(userName) + ", New userCityMapping : " + userCityMapping);

        // The get() method returns `null` if the specified key was not found in the HashMap
        System.out.println("Lisa's city : " + userCityMapping.get("Lisa"));
    }
}

# Output
is userCityMapping empty? : true
userCityMapping HashMap : {Steve=London, John=New York, Rajeev=Bengaluru}
We have the city information of 3 users
Steve lives in London
There is a user in the userCityMapping who lives in New York
Steve moved to a new city California, New userCityMapping : {Steve=California, John=New York, Rajeev=Bengaluru}
Lisa's city : null

3.2 Removing keys from a HashMap

The following example shows how to :

• Remove a key from a HashMap | remove(Object key)
• Remove a key from a HashMap only if it is associated with a given value | remove(Object key, Object value)

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class RemoveKeysFromHashMapExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, String> husbandWifeMapping = new HashMap<>();
        husbandWifeMapping.put("Jack", "Marie");
        husbandWifeMapping.put("Chris", "Lisa");
        husbandWifeMapping.put("Steve", "Jennifer");

        System.out.println("Husband-Wife Mapping : " + husbandWifeMapping);

        // Remove a key from the HashMap
        // Ex - Unfortunately, Chris got divorced. Let's remove him from the mapping
        String husband = "Chris";
        String wife = husbandWifeMapping.remove(husband);

        System.out.println("Couple (" + husband + " => " + wife + ") got divorced");
        System.out.println("New Mapping : " + husbandWifeMapping);

        // Remove a key from the HashMap only if it is mapped to the given value
        // Ex - Divorce "Jack" only if He is married to "Linda"
        boolean isRemoved = husbandWifeMapping.remove("Jack", "Linda");
        System.out.println("Did Jack get removed from the mapping? : " + isRemoved);

        // remove() returns null if the mapping was not found for the supplied key
        wife = husbandWifeMapping.remove("David");
        if(wife == null) {
            System.out.println("Looks like David is not married to anyone");
        } else {
            System.out.println("Removed David and his wife from the mapping");
        }
    }
}

# Output
Husband-Wife Mapping : {Steve=Jennifer, Chris=Lisa, Jack=Marie}
Couple (Chris => Lisa) got divorced
New Mapping : {Steve=Jennifer, Jack=Marie}
Did Jack get removed from the mapping? : false
Looks like David is not married to anyone

3.3 Obtaining the entrySet, keySet, and values from a HashMap

The Map interface provides methods to retrieve the set of entries (key-value pairs), the set of keys, and the collection of values.

The following example shows how to retrieve them from a HashMap -

import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;

public class HashMapEntryKeySetValuesExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, String> countryISOCodeMapping = new HashMap<>();

        countryISOCodeMapping.put("India", "IN");
        countryISOCodeMapping.put("United States of America", "US");
        countryISOCodeMapping.put("Russia", "RU");
        countryISOCodeMapping.put("Japan", "JP");
        countryISOCodeMapping.put("China", "CN");

        // HashMap's entry set
        Set<Map.Entry<String, String>> countryISOCodeEntries = countryISOCodeMapping.entrySet();
        System.out.println("countryISOCode entries : " + countryISOCodeEntries);

        // HashMap's key set
        Set<String> countries = countryISOCodeMapping.keySet();
        System.out.println("countries : " + countries);

        // HashMap's values
        Collection<String> isoCodes = countryISOCodeMapping.values();
        System.out.println("isoCodes : " + isoCodes);
    }
}

# Output
countryISOCode entries : [United States of America=US, Japan=JP, China=CN, India=IN, Russia=RU]
countries : [United States of America, Japan, China, India, Russia]
isoCodes : [US, JP, CN, IN, RU]

3.4 Iterating over a HashMap

The following example shows different ways of iterating over a HashMap -

• Iterating over a HashMap using Java 8 forEach and lambda expression.

• Iterating over the HashMap’s entrySet using iterator().

• Iterating over the HashMap’s entrySet using Java 8 forEach and lambda expression.

• Iterating over the HashMap’s entrySet using simple for-each loop.

• Iterating over the HashMap’s keySet.

import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;

public class IterateOverHashMap {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<String, Double> employeeSalary = new HashMap<>();
        employeeSalary.put("David", 76000.00);
        employeeSalary.put("John", 120000.00);
        employeeSalary.put("Mark", 95000.00);
        employeeSalary.put("Steven", 134000.00);

        System.out.println("=== Iterating over a HashMap using Java 8 forEach and lambda ===");
        employeeSalary.forEach((employee, salary) -> {
            System.out.println(employee + " => " + salary);
        });

        System.out.println("\n=== Iterating over the HashMap's entrySet using iterator() ===");
        Set<Map.Entry<String, Double>> employeeSalaryEntries = employeeSalary.entrySet();
        Iterator<Map.Entry<String, Double>> employeeSalaryIterator = employeeSalaryEntries.iterator();
        while (employeeSalaryIterator.hasNext()) {
            Map.Entry<String, Double> entry = employeeSalaryIterator.next();
            System.out.println(entry.getKey() + " => " + entry.getValue());
        }

        System.out.println("\n=== Iterating over the HashMap's entrySet using Java 8 forEach and lambda ===");
        employeeSalary.entrySet().forEach(entry -> {
            System.out.println(entry.getKey() + " => " + entry.getValue());
        });

        System.out.println("\n=== Iterating over the HashMap's entrySet using simple for-each loop ===");
        for(Map.Entry<String, Double> entry: employeeSalary.entrySet()) {
            System.out.println(entry.getKey() + " => " + entry.getValue());
        }

        System.out.println("\n=== Iterating over the HashMap's keySet ===");
        employeeSalary.keySet().forEach(employee -> {
            System.out.println(employee + " => " + employeeSalary.get(employee));
        });
    }
}

# Output
=== Iterating over a HashMap using Java 8 forEach and lambda ===
David => 76000.0
John => 120000.0
Mark => 95000.0
Steven => 134000.0

=== Iterating over the HashMap's entrySet using iterator() ===
David => 76000.0
John => 120000.0
Mark => 95000.0
Steven => 134000.0

=== Iterating over the HashMap's entrySet using Java 8 forEach and lambda ===
David => 76000.0
John => 120000.0
Mark => 95000.0
Steven => 134000.0

=== Iterating over the HashMap's entrySet using simple for-each loop ===
David => 76000.0
John => 120000.0
Mark => 95000.0
Steven => 134000.0

=== Iterating over the HashMap's keySet ===
David => 76000.0
John => 120000.0
Mark => 95000.0
Steven => 134000.0

参考：
《How HashMap works in Java》
《Java HashMap Tutorial with Examples》
《Working of HashMap in Java》