A map is a collection in JavaScript to store values in a key-value format.
You may think the object does the same job for us. What impact does Map collection make?
In a map collection, the key can be any type whereas in objects the keys can be of string type only.
To make a map collection we can use the new Map() constructor function.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
Add value to map
To add a key-value pair to Map you can use the set() method available in the newly created map object.
The key of the value is passed as the first argument and the value as the second argument.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
That's not the cool part. As said above we can add any type as the key to the map.
Let's add a number and boolean type as the key to the map.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe"); // string type as the key
map.set(true, "its true"); // boolean type as the key
map.set(1, 234); // number type as the key
We can even set an object type as the key.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// an object
let John = {
name: "John Doe",
};
// setting object as the key
map.set(John, 20000);
Get a value from the map
To get a value from the map you can use the get() method available in the map object.
The method accepts the key of the value as an argument and it returns the value of the key.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
map.set(true, "its true");
// get name value
map.get("name"); // John Doe
map.get(true); // its true
Check if a key is present in a map collection
To check if a key is present in a map you can use the has() method available in the map object.
The method accepts the key as an argument and returns boolean true if present and false if not.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
map.set(true, "its true");
// check if a key is present in map
map.has("name"); // true
map.has(true); // true
Delete a key from the map
To delete a key from the map we can use the delete() method available in the map object.
The method accepts the key to be removed as an argument.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
map.set(true, "its true");
// delete a key
map.delete("name"); // "name" key is removed
Remove every element from Map
To remove every element from a map you can use the clear() method available in the map object.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
map.set(true, "its true");
// remove every elements
map.clear();
Get size of a map collection
To get the full length or size of a map collection you can use the size property available in the map object.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
map.set(true, "its true");
// get length or size of map
console.log(map.size); // 2
Type of a map collection
The type of map collection is object.
// create a new map
let map = new Map();
// add a key-value pair
map.set("name", "John Doe");
map.set(true, "its true");
// get length or size of map
console.log(typeof map); // object
We will discuss more advanced concepts of map collection in the next blog post.