8/28/2021 Dart Map - working with a map collection in Dart language

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Dart Map
last modified December 11, 2020

Dart Map tutorial shows how to work with a map collection in Dart language.

A map is a collection of key/value pairs. The value is retrieved from a map with its
associated key. Maps are also called dictionaries, associative arrays, or hash tables.

Depending on the iteration order, there are three types of maps in Dart:

HashMap - unordered
LinkedHashMap - ordered by insertion order
SplayTreeMap - ordered by sorted keys

By default, creating an instance using Map constructor (Map, Map.from, or Map.of) creates a
LinkedHashMap.

A map is created with a map literal or with a map constructor. To work with maps, we
import the dart:collection library.

Dart Map literal

A map literal consists of a pair of curly brackes, in which we specify the key/value pairs.
The pairs are separated by comma. The key is separated from the value by colon.

map_literal.dart
void main() {
var data = {'name': 'John Doe', 'occupation': 'gardener'};
print(data);

print(data.runtimeType);

var words = <int, String>{1: 'sky', 2: 'falcon', 3: 'rock'};

print(words);

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print(words.runtimeType);
}

In the example, we create two maps with map literals.

var data = {'name': 'John Doe', 'occupation': 'gardener'};

Here we have a simple map with two pairs. The 'name' and 'occupation' are keys, the 'John
Doe' and 'gardener' are values.

var words = <int, String>{1: 'sky', 2: 'falcon', 3: 'rock'};

In the second map, we also specify the data types for the keys and values. The data types
precede the curly brackets.

$ dart map_literal.dart
{name: John Doe, occupation: gardener}
_InternalLinkedHashMap<String, String>
{1: sky, 2: falcon, 3: rock}
_InternalLinkedHashMap<int, String>

Dart Map size

With the length property, we can determine the size of the map.

map_length.dart
void main() {
var fruit = {1: 'Apple', 2: 'Orange'};
print(fruit.length);

print('There are ${fruit.length} elements in the map');

}

The example creates a simple map collection and prints its size.

$ dart map_length.dart
2
There are 2 elements in the map

Dart empty map

With isEmpty and isNotEmpty, we can determine whether the map is empty or not empty.

check_if_empty.dart
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8/28/2021 Dart Map - working with a map collection in Dart language

void main() {
var words = {
1: 'sky',
2: 'fly',
3: 'ribbon',
4: 'falcon',
5: 'rock',
6: 'ocean',
7: 'cloud'
};

print(words.isEmpty);
print(words.isNotEmpty);

print('---------------');
words.clear();

print(words.isEmpty);
print(words.isNotEmpty);
}

In the example, we use the isEmpty and isNotEmpty methods.

$ dart check_if_empty.dart
false
true
---------------
true
false

Dart add pair

A new pair can be added to a map with the assignment operator or the putIfAbsent method.
The putIfAbsent adds a new value if it is not in the map. It returns the existing or the new
value.

adding.dart
void main() {
var fruit = {1: 'Apple', 2: 'Orange'};

fruit[3] = 'Banana';
print(fruit);

var val = fruit.putIfAbsent(3, () => 'Mango');

print(fruit);
print(val);

var val2 = fruit.putIfAbsent(4, () => 'Cherry');

print(fruit);

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print(val2);
}

We add new pairs to the map in the example.

fruit[3] = 'Banana';

We add a new pair 3: 'Banana'.

var val = fruit.putIfAbsent(3, () => 'Mango');

Since there is already a pair with key 3, the new pair is not added to the map. The method
returns Banana.

var val2 = fruit.putIfAbsent(4, () => 'Cherry');

The 4: 'Cherry' pair is added to the map. The method returns Cherry.

$ dart adding.dart
{1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Banana}
{1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Banana}
Banana
{1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Banana, 4: Cherry}
Cherry

Dart map removing pairs

We can remove pairs from the map with remove, removeWhere, or clear.

removing.dart
void main() {
var words = {
1: 'sky',
2: 'fly',
3: 'ribbon',
4: 'falcon',
5: 'rock',
6: 'ocean',
7: 'cloud'
};

words.remove(1);
print(words);

words.removeWhere((key, value) => value.startsWith('f'));

print(words);

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words.clear();
print(words);
}

The example removes pairs from the map of words.

words.remove(1);

With remove, we delete the pair having key 1.

words.removeWhere((key, value) => value.startsWith('f'));

The removeWhere deletes all pairs whose values (words) begin with letter f.

words.clear();

The clear method removes all pairs from the map.

$ dart remove_elements.dart
{2: fly, 3: ribbon, 4: falcon, 5: rock, 6: ocean, 7: cloud}
{3: ribbon, 5: rock, 6: ocean, 7: cloud}
{}

Dart Map fromIterables

The fromIterables method creates a new map from the provided iterables.

from_iterables.dart
void main() {
var letters = ['I', 'II', 'V', 'X', 'L'];
var numbers = [1, 2, 5, 10, 50];

var data = Map<String, int>.fromIterables(letters, numbers);

print(data);
}

In the example, we create a map from two lists.

$ dart from_iterables.dart
{I: 1, II: 2, V: 5, X: 10, L: 50}

Dart Map collection if & for forms

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8/28/2021 Dart Map - working with a map collection in Dart language

With the collection if and for forms, we can dynamically create maps in Dart. The syntax is
close to list comprehensions known from Haskell or Python.

collection_if_for.dart
void main() {
var words = ['sky', 'cloud', 'sod', 'worm', 'put', 'water', 'cup'];

var i = 0;
var data = {
for (var e in words)
if (e.length == 3) i++: e
};

print(data);
}

The example creates a map with a collection if/for form. We create a map from a list of
words, where we include only words that have three characters. To each word, we assign a
numeric key.

$ dart collection_if_for.dart
{0: sky, 1: sod, 2: put, 3: cup}

Dart merge maps

We can merge maps with the addAll method or the spread (...) operator.

merging.dart
void main() {
var f1 = {1: 'Apple', 2: 'Orange'};
var f2 = {3: 'Banana'};
var f3 = {4: 'Mango'};

var fruit = {}..addAll(f1)..addAll(f2)..addAll(f3);

print(fruit);

var fruit2 = Map.from(f1)..addAll(f2)..addAll(f3);

print(fruit2);

var fruit3 = {...f1, ...f2, ...f3};

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print(fruit3);
}

In the example, we have three maps. We merge them with addAll and the spread operator.

$ dart merging.dart
{1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Banana, 4: Mango}
{1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Banana, 4: Mango}
{1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Banana, 4: Mango}

Dart containsKey/containsValue
With containsKey and containsValue, we can determine if a map contains a specific key and
value.

contains.dart
void main() {
var myMap = {1: 'Apple', 2: 'Orange', 3: 'Banana'};
print(myMap.containsKey(1));
print(myMap.containsKey(3));

print(myMap.containsValue('Apple'));
print(myMap.containsValue('Cherry'));
}

The example uses the containsKey and containsValue methods for a small map.

$ dart contains.dart
true
true
true
false

Dart map iteration

We can iterate over map pairs with forEach method or for statement.

iteration.dart
void main() {
var fruit = {1: 'Apple', 2: 'Banana', 3: 'Cherry', 4: 'Orange'};

fruit.forEach((key, val) {
print('{ key: $key, value: $val}');
});

print('---------------------------');

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fruit.entries.forEach((e) {
print('{ key: ${e.key}, value: ${e.value} }');
});

print('---------------------------');

for (var key in fruit.keys) print(key);

for (var value in fruit.values) print(value);
}

In the example, we loop over a map of fruit.

fruit.forEach((key, val) {
print('{ key: $key, value: $val}');
});

With forEach method, we print the key/value pairs of the fruit map.

fruit.entries.forEach((e) {
print('{ key: ${e.key}, value: ${e.value} }');
});

In a similar fashion, we loop over the entry objects of the fruit map.

for (var key in fruit.keys) print(key);

for (var value in fruit.values) print(value);

Finally, with for statements, we go through the keys and values separately.

$ dart iteration.dart
{ key: 1, value: Apple}
{ key: 2, value: Banana}
{ key: 3, value: Cherry}
{ key: 4, value: Orange}
---------------------------
{ key: 1, value: Apple }
{ key: 2, value: Banana }
{ key: 3, value: Cherry }
{ key: 4, value: Orange }
---------------------------
1
2
3
4
Apple
Banana
Cherry
Orange

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Dart sort map

When we need to sort maps, we can use the SplayTreeMap. The SplayTreeMap is ordered by
sorted keys.

sorting.dart
import 'dart:collection';

void main() {
var fruit = new SplayTreeMap<int, String>();

fruit[0] = 'Banana';
fruit[5] = 'Plum';
fruit[6] = 'Strawberry';
fruit[2] = 'Orange';
fruit[3] = 'Mango';
fruit[4] = 'Blueberry';
fruit[1] = 'Apple';

print(fruit);

fruit.forEach((key, val) {
print('{ key: $key, value: $val}');
});

var sortedByValue = new SplayTreeMap<int, String>.from(

fruit, (key1, key2) => fruit[key1].compareTo(fruit[key2]));
print(sortedByValue);
}

We have a map of fruit. By default, the pairs are ordered by the keys -- numerically, in
ascending order.

var sortedByValue = new SplayTreeMap<int, String>.from(

fruit, (key1, key2) => fruit[key1].compareTo(fruit[key2]));

We create a sorted map by values from the original map. We pass the from function a
comparison function, which compares the values of the pairs.

$ dart sorting2.dart
{0: Banana, 1: Apple, 2: Orange, 3: Mango, 4: Blueberry, 5: Plum, 6: Strawberry}
{ key: 0, value: Banana}
{ key: 1, value: Apple}
{ key: 2, value: Orange}
{ key: 3, value: Mango}
{ key: 4, value: Blueberry}
{ key: 5, value: Plum}

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{ key: 6, value: Strawberry}
{1: Apple, 0: Banana, 4: Blueberry, 3: Mango, 2: Orange, 5: Plum, 6: Strawberry}

In this tutorial, we have covered Dart maps.

List all Dart tutorials.

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