View Category
Maps
Declaration

Define an empty map

perl
# %map = {}
# This was wrong, that would have created a hash with one key
# of the stringified hash reference (HASH(0xNUMBERSHERE)) and a
# value of 'undef', as well as triggering a
# "Reference found where even-sized list expected" with the warnings
# pragma enabled

my %map;
erlang
Map = dict:new(),
Map = orddict:new(),
Map = gb_trees:empty(),
Map = ets:new(the_map_name, [set, private, {keypos, 1}]),
fantom
map := [:]

Define an unmodifiable empty map

perl
# perl does not provide unmodifiable maps/hashes, but you could use "constant
# functions", if you really need them
# 2011-07-06 Not actually true, see Hash::Util::lock_hash;

sub MAP () { {} }
use Hash::Util qw/lock_hash/;
# two lines
my %hash;
lock_hash(%hash);
# or in one line
lock_hash(my %locked_hash);
erlang

% Erlang data structures are immutable - updating a 'map' sees a modified copy created
Map = dict:new(),
fantom
map := [:].ro

Define an initial map

Define the map {circle:1, triangle:3, square:4}
perl
%map = (circle => 1, triangle => 3, square => 4);
erlang
Map = dict:from_list([{circle, 1}, {triangle, 3}, {square, 4}]),
Map0 = dict:new(),

% Erlang variables are 'single-assignment' i.e. they cannot be reassigned
Map1 = dict:store(circle, 1, Map0),
Map2 = dict:store(triangle, 3, Map1),
Map3 = dict:store(square, 4, Map2),
Map0 = gb_trees:empty(),

Map1 = gb_trees:enter(circle, 1, Map0),
Map2 = gb_trees:enter(triangle, 3, Map1),
Map3 = gb_trees:enter(square, 4, Map2),
Map = gb_trees:from_orddict(lists:keysort(1, [{circle, 1}, {triangle, 3}, {square, 4}])),
Map = ets:new(the_map_name, [ordered_set, private, {keypos, 1}]),
ets:insert(Map, [{circle, 1}, {triangle, 3}, {square, 4}]),
fantom
map := ["circle":1, "triangle":2, "square":4]
Access

Check if a key exists in a map

Given a map pets {joe:cat,mary:turtle,bill:canary} print "ok" if an pet exists for "mary"
perl
%pets = (joe => 'cat', mary => 'turtle', bill => 'canary');
print 'ok' if ($pets{'mary'});
%pets = (joe => 'cat', mary => 'turtle', bill => 'canary');
print 'ok' if $pets{'mary'};
print 'ok' if $pets{mary};
print 'ok' if exists $pets{mary}
erlang
dict:is_key(mary, Pets) andalso begin io:format("ok~n"), true end.
IsMember = ets:member(Pets, mary), if (IsMember) -> io:format("ok~n") ; true -> false end.
case gb_trees:lookup(mary, Pets) of none -> false ; _ -> io:format("ok~n") end.
fantom
map := ["joe":"cat", "mary":"turtle", "bill":"canary"]
if (map.containsKey("mary")) echo("ok")

Retrieve a value from a map

Given a map pets {joe:cat,mary:turtle,bill:canary} print the pet for "joe" ("cat")
perl
%pets = (joe => 'cat', mary => 'turtle', bill=>'canary');
print $pets{joe};
erlang
dict:is_key(joe, Pets) andalso begin io:format("~w~n", [dict:fetch(joe, Pets)]), true end.
case dict:find(joe, Pets) of error -> false ; {ok, Pet} -> io:format("~w~n", [Pet]) end.
IsMember = ets:member(Pets, joe), if (IsMember) -> io:format("~w~n", [ets:lookup_element(Pets, joe, 2)]) ; true -> false end.
case ets:match(Pets, {joe, '$1'}) of [] -> false ; [[Pet]] -> io:format("~w~n", [Pet]) end.
case gb_trees:lookup(joe, Pets) of none -> false ; {value, Pet} -> io:format("~w~n", [Pet]) end.
fantom
map := ["joe":"cat", "mary":"turtle", "bill":"canary"]
pet := map["joe"]
echo("pet=$pet")

Add an entry to a map

Given an empty pets map, add the mapping from "rob" to "dog"
perl
$pets{rob} = 'dog';
erlang
Pets1 = dict:store(rob, dog, Pets0).
ets:insert(Pets, {rob, dog}).
Pets1 = gb_trees:enter(rob, dog, Pets0).
fantom
map["rob"] = "dog"

Remove an entry from a map

Given a map pets {joe:cat,mary:turtle,bill:canary} remove the mapping for "bill" and print "canary"
perl
print delete $pets{bill};
erlang
Pet = dict:fetch(bill, Pets0), Pets1 = dict:erase(bill, Pets0), io:format("~w~n", [Pet]),
Pet = ets:lookup_element(Pets, bill, 2), ets:delete(Pets, bill), io:format("~w~n", [Pet]),
{value, Pet} = gb_trees:lookup(bill, Pets0), Pets1 = gb_trees:delete(bill, Pets0), io:format("~w~n", [Pet]),
fantom
pet := map.remove("bill")
echo ("pet=$pet")
Algorithms

Create a histogram map from a list

Given the list [a,b,a,c,b,b], produce a map {a:2, b:3, c:1} which contains the count of each unique item in the list
perl
foreach(@list) {
$histogram{$_}++;
}
$histogram{$_}++ for @list;
erlang
% Imperative Solution
Histogram = histogram(List),
% Functional (1) Solution
Histogram = histogram(List),
lists:foldl(fun(Elem, OldDict) ->
dict:update_counter(Elem, 1, OldDict)
end,
dict:new(),
[a,b,a,c,b,b])).
fantom
list := ["a","b","a","c","b","b"]
map := [Str:Int][:]
list.each |Str s, Int i| { if(!map.containsKey(s)) map.add(s,1); else map[s] = ++map[s] }
echo (map)

Categorise a list

Given the list [one, two, three, four, five] produce a map {3:[one, two], 4:[four, five], 5:[three]} which sorts elements into map entries based on their length
perl
@list = qw(one two three four five);
push @{$map{length($_)}}, $_ for (@list);
erlang
% Imperative Solution
CatList = categorise(List),
% Functional (1) Solution
CatList = categorise(List),
fantom
list := ["one", "two", "three", "four", "five"]
map := [Int:List][:]
list.each { List l := map[it.size] ?: [,]; map[it.size] = l.add(it) }
echo(map)