Java – LinkedHashMap class with examples

In this article, we will discuss LinkedHashMap class – one of the Map implemented classes in detail

1. Key points about LinkedHashMap:

  • LinkedHashMap is exactly same as that of HashMap
  • but preserves insertion-order
  • whereas HashMap stores entries in random-order

2. LinkedHashMap:

  • LinkedHashMap is implementation class of Map interface (i.e.; LinkedHashMap implements Map)
  • This is introduced in Java 1.4 version
  • LinkedHashMap uses combination of LinkedList & hashtable to store Map entries (i.e.; key-value pairs)
  • LinkedHashMap allows only unique keys but there is no restriction on values which can be duplicated
  • At any time, LinkedHashMap contains only unique keys
  • Insertion-order is maintained
  • While iterating through LinkedHashMap, we will get map entries as per insertion-order
  • Allows NULL insertion for key but maximum of only one
  • Also, allows NULL insertion for values without any upper limit i.e.; we can insert null value against any unique key
  • Without generics, LinkedHashMap allows to insert any type of Key/Values;
  • With generics, it is type-bounded except, if we take both key-value as Objects within angle brackets
  • LinkedHashMap is non-synchronized
  • Present in java.util package and extends java.util.HashMap implements java.util.Map interface
  • Also, implements java.lang.Cloneable, java.io.Serializable marker interfaces which provides special ability to LinkedHashMap (provided by JVM at run time) like,
  • java.lang.Cloneable: to create a duplicate object or to clone an object
  • java.io.Serializable: to transfer objects across network
28-LinkedHashMap-in-java

Source: Team BenchResources.Net

3. LinkedHashMap constructors:

3.1 LinkedHashMap hs = new LinkedHashMap();

  • creates an empty LinkedHashMap object of size 16
  • with default fill ratio 0.75

3.2 LinkedHashMap hs = new LinkedHashMap(int initialCapacity);

  • creates an empty LinkedHashMap object of specified size (or initial capacity)
  • with default fill ratio 0.75

3.3 LinkedHashMap hs = new LinkedHashMap(int initialCapacity, float loadFactor);

  • creates an empty LinkedHashMap object of specified size (or initial capacity)
  • with specified fill ratio (for example 0.85)

3.4 LinkedHashMap hs = new LinkedHashMap(Collection c);

  • created an equivalent LinkedHashMap object for the specified collection
  • it is basically used for inter-conversion between collection objects

3.5 LinkedHashMap hs = new LinkedHashMap(int initialCapacity, float loadFactor, boolean accessOrder);

  • creates an empty LinkedHashMap object of specified size (or initial capacity)
  • with specified fill ratio (for example 0.85)
  • along with specified ordering mode like true for access-order and false for insertion-order

4. Fill ratio (or Load factor)

  • Fill ratio is also known as Load factor
  • This factor determines when to increase the size of LinkedHashMap automatically
  • For example, for the 1st two constructors the default load factor is 75 à which means after filling 75 % of LinkedHashMap, new LinkedHashMap of bigger size will be created
  • For 3rd constructor, programmer can define load factor while creating LinkedHashMap object. If programmer define it to be 0.95, then after filling 95% of LinkedHashMap, size of LinkedHashMap will be increased automatically
  • The value of Load factor should be in between 0 to 1.0

 LinkedHashMapAddAndRemove.java

package in.bench.resources.java.collection;

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

public class LinkedHashMapAddAndRemove {

	public static void main(String[] args) {

		// creating LinkedHashMap object of type <Integer, String>
		LinkedHashMap<Integer, String> lhm =
				new LinkedHashMap<Integer, String>();

		// adding key-value pairs to LinkedHashMap object
		lhm.put(1, "Google");
		lhm.put(2, "Facebook");
		lhm.put(3, "Yahoo");
		lhm.put(4, "Amazon");
		lhm.put(5, "Reddit");

		System.out.println("Printing all"
				+ " key-value pairs inside {}\n" + lhm + "\n");

		System.out.println("\nIterating using keySet\n");

		// Iterating key-pairs using keySet
		Set<Integer> keys = lhm.keySet();
		for(Integer key : keys) {
			System.out.println(key + "  " + lhm.get(key));
		}

		System.out.println("\n\nIterating using Map Entry interface\n");

		// Iterating key-pairs using Map entry
		Set set = lhm.entrySet();
		Iterator iterator = set.iterator();

		while(iterator.hasNext()) {

			Map.Entry mapEntry = (Map.Entry)iterator.next();
			System.out.println(mapEntry.getKey() + "  "
					+ mapEntry.getValue());
		}

		// removing map entry at 4th position
		System.out.println("\n\nEntry removed at 4th position : "
				+ lhm.remove(4));
	}
}

Output:

Printing all key-value pairs inside {}
{1=Google, 2=Facebook, 3=Yahoo, 4=Amazon, 5=Reddit}

Iterating using keySet

1  Google
2  Facebook
3  Yahoo
4  Amazon
5  Reddit

Iterating using Map Entry interface

1  Google
2  Facebook
3  Yahoo
4  Amazon
5  Reddit

Entry removed at 4th position : Amazon

5. Difference between HashMap and LinkedHashMap ?

  • The main difference between HashMap and LinkedHashMap is insertion-order
  • HashMap doesn’t maintain insertion-order and print values in random-order while iterating
  • whereas LinkedHashMap maintains insertion-order as seen in above example
  • Note: All methods of LinkedHashMap is non-synchronized

Q) How to make LinkedHashMap synchronized ?

  • It can be easily converted into synchronized LinkedHashMap
  • Using utility method synchronizedMap(lhm); of java.util.Collections class
Map map = Collections.synchronizedMap(lhm);

Related Articles:

References:

Happy Coding !!
Happy Learning !!

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