Mastering HashMap in Java: How It Works Internally, Handling Hash Collisions, and Java 8 Improvements
HashMap is one of the most commonly used data structures in Java. It is a part of the Java Collections Framework and is used to store key-value pairs. In this blog post, we will dive into how HashMap works internally, what hash collisions are, and explore some enhancements introduced in Java 8. How HashMap Internally Works At its core, a HashMap uses a data structure called an array to store key-value pairs. Each key is associated with a specific index in the array through a process called hashing. Here's a simplified overview of how it works: Hashing : When you put a key-value pair into a HashMap, the HashMap first calculates a hash code for the key. This hash code is an integer value that represents the key and is used to determine the index where the key-value pair will be stored in the array. Index Calculation : The hash code is then processed to calculate an index within the array. This is typically done by taking the hash code modulo the size of the array. The result is the ...