Practice: Working with Map Objects

Map objects are collections of key-value pairs where each key in the Map can only occur once and is unique within the Map's collection. A Map object is iterated by key-value pairs, meaning that a for...of loop returns a 2-member array of [key, value] for each iteration. Iteration occurs in insertion order, which corresponds to the order in which each key-value pair was first inserted into the map using the set() method (that is, if there was not already a key with the same value present when set() was called). Try the examples at the end of the section. These exercises do not count toward your grade. It is just for practice!

Examples

Using the Map object

const myMap = new Map();

const keyString = "a string";
const keyObj = {};
const keyFunc = function () {};

// setting the values
myMap.set(keyString, "value associated with 'a string'");
myMap.set(keyObj, "value associated with keyObj");
myMap.set(keyFunc, "value associated with keyFunc");

console.log(myMap.size); // 3

// getting the values
console.log(myMap.get(keyString)); // "value associated with 'a string'"
console.log(myMap.get(keyObj)); // "value associated with keyObj"
console.log(myMap.get(keyFunc)); // "value associated with keyFunc"

console.log(myMap.get("a string")); // "value associated with 'a string'", because keyString === 'a string'
console.log(myMap.get({})); // undefined, because keyObj !== {}
console.log(myMap.get(function () {})); // undefined, because keyFunc !== function () {}

Using NaN as Map keys

NaN can also be used as a key. Even though every NaN is not equal to itself (NaN !== NaN is true), the following example works because NaNs are indistinguishable from each other:

const myMap = new Map();
myMap.set(NaN, "not a number");

myMap.get(NaN);
// "not a number"

const otherNaN = Number("foo");
myMap.get(otherNaN);
// "not a number"

Iterating Map with for...of

Maps can be iterated using a for...of loop:

const myMap = new Map();
myMap.set(0, "zero");
myMap.set(1, "one");

for (const [key, value] of myMap) {
  console.log(`${key} = ${value}`);
}
// 0 = zero
// 1 = one

for (const key of myMap.keys()) {
  console.log(key);
}
// 0
// 1

for (const value of myMap.values()) {
  console.log(value);
}
// zero
// one

for (const [key, value] of myMap.entries()) {
  console.log(`${key} = ${value}`);
}
// 0 = zero
// 1 = one

Iterating Map with forEach()

Maps can be iterated using the forEach() method:

myMap.forEach((value, key) => {
  console.log(`${key} = ${value}`);
});
// 0 = zero
// 1 = one

Relation with Array objects

const kvArray = [
  ["key1", "value1"],
  ["key2", "value2"],
];

// Use the regular Map constructor to transform a 2D key-value Array into a map
const myMap = new Map(kvArray);

console.log(myMap.get("key1")); // "value1"

// Use Array.from() to transform a map into a 2D key-value Array
console.log(Array.from(myMap)); // Will show you exactly the same Array as kvArray

// A succinct way to do the same, using the spread syntax
console.log([...myMap]);

// Or use the keys() or values() iterators, and convert them to an array
console.log(Array.from(myMap.keys())); // ["key1", "key2"]

Cloning and merging Maps

Just like Arrays, Maps can be cloned:

const original = new Map([[1, "one"]]);

const clone = new Map(original);

console.log(clone.get(1)); // one
console.log(original === clone); // false (useful for shallow comparison)

Note: Keep in mind that the data itself is not cloned.

Maps can be merged, maintaining key uniqueness:

const first = new Map([
  [1, "one"],
  [2, "two"],
  [3, "three"],
]);

const second = new Map([
  [1, "uno"],
  [2, "dos"],
]);

// Merge two maps. The last repeated key wins.
// Spread syntax essentially converts a Map to an Array
const merged = new Map([...first, ...second]);

console.log(merged.get(1)); // uno
console.log(merged.get(2)); // dos
console.log(merged.get(3)); // three

Maps can be merged with Arrays, too:

const first = new Map([
  [1, "one"],
  [2, "two"],
  [3, "three"],
]);

const second = new Map([
  [1, "uno"],
  [2, "dos"],
]);

// Merge maps with an array. The last repeated key wins.
const merged = new Map([...first, ...second, [1, "eins"]]);

console.log(merged.get(1)); // eins
console.log(merged.get(2)); // dos
console.log(merged.get(3)); // three