CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javadictionaryhashmap
Egis
Egis

Reputation: 5141

Getting values from java.util.Map

I have Map<Date, String. I have two Date objects a, b that are equal. I put a string value to the map associated with key a. Then I try to get map value associated with keys a and b but only a returns value that I've put. Is it possible to get my value with b key. I know this is possible when keys are simple strings. Why this doesn't work with other type of objects?

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {
    Map<Date, String> map = new HashMap<Date, String>();

    Date a = new Date(20131105);
    Date b = new Date(20131105);

    map.put(a, "sweet");

    System.out.println(map.get(a));
    System.out.println(map.get(b));
}

static class Date {
    private int ymd;

    public Date(int ymd) {
        this.ymd = ymd;
    }

    public int getYmd() {
        return ymd;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
        if (obj instanceof Date) {
            return ((Date) obj).ymd == ymd;
        }
        return false;
    }
}

}

The output is:

sweet
null

Upvotes: 4

Views: 2857

Answers (4)

Qazi
Qazi

Reputation: 132

Because String,Integer and all wrapper class override hasCode and equals both the method. But In your case equals() method will return true but you have not override hasCode() method so it will generate different hashcode for both a and b .So map.get(b) will return null value.

Upvotes: 0

Alexis C.
Alexis C.

Reputation: 93842

Since you're using an HashMap for storing your date objects, you have to override the hashCode() method because the key objects are stored in the data structure using their hashCode.

Very basic hashCode() overriden (just for illustration):

@Override
public int hashCode(){
   return ymd;
}

Output :

sweet
sweet

Upvotes: 5

Prabhakaran Ramaswamy
Prabhakaran Ramaswamy

Reputation: 26094

You need to implement hashCode() method in your Date class

Add below code in your Date class 

    @Override
    public int hashCode() {              
          return ymd;
    }

output

sweet
sweet

Upvotes: 1

Ivaylo Strandjev
Ivaylo Strandjev

Reputation: 70929

A hashmap hashes the elements using their hashCode function. For most types the hash code is computed using the reference of the object and this is the case with Date. While in your case the two dates have same value, they are not the same object. Thus they have different references and so their hash codes differ. When you lookup an element in a HashMap its hashCode is used and so as b's hashCode is different from a's hashCode you can not find an element with key a by using b.

Upvotes: 2

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