java.util

## Class Hashtable<K,V>

- java.lang.Object
- - java.util.Dictionary<K,V>
  - - java.util.Hashtable<K,V>

- All Implemented Interfaces:
    Serializable, Cloneable, Map<K,V>
  Direct Known Subclasses:
    Properties

      public class Hashtable<K,V>
      extends Dictionary<K,V>
      implements Map<K,V>, Cloneable, Serializable

  This class implements a hash table, which maps keys to values. Any non-`null` object can be used as a key or as a value.

  To successfully store and retrieve objects from a hashtable, the objects used as keys must implement the `hashCode` method and the `equals` method.

  An instance of `Hashtable` has two parameters that affect its performance: initial capacity and load factor. The capacity is the number of buckets in the hash table, and the initial capacity is simply the capacity at the time the hash table is created. Note that the hash table is open: in the case of a "hash collision", a single bucket stores multiple entries, which must be searched sequentially. The load factor is a measure of how full the hash table is allowed to get before its capacity is automatically increased. The initial capacity and load factor parameters are merely hints to the implementation. The exact details as to when and whether the rehash method is invoked are implementation-dependent.

  Generally, the default load factor (.75) offers a good tradeoff between time and space costs. Higher values decrease the space overhead but increase the time cost to look up an entry (which is reflected in most `Hashtable` operations, including `get` and `put`).

  The initial capacity controls a tradeoff between wasted space and the need for `rehash` operations, which are time-consuming. No `rehash` operations will ever occur if the initial capacity is greater than the maximum number of entries the `Hashtable` will contain divided by its load factor. However, setting the initial capacity too high can waste space.

  If many entries are to be made into a `Hashtable`, creating it with a sufficiently large capacity may allow the entries to be inserted more efficiently than letting it perform automatic rehashing as needed to grow the table.

  This example creates a hashtable of numbers. It uses the names of the numbers as keys:

         Hashtable<String, Integer> numbers
           = new Hashtable<String, Integer>();
         numbers.put("one", 1);
         numbers.put("two", 2);
         numbers.put("three", 3);

  To retrieve a number, use the following code:

         Integer n = numbers.get("two");
         if (n != null) {
           System.out.println("two = " + n);
         }

  The iterators returned by the `iterator` method of the collections returned by all of this class's "collection view methods" are fail-fast: if the Hashtable is structurally modified at any time after the iterator is created, in any way except through the iterator's own `remove` method, the iterator will throw a `ConcurrentModificationException`. Thus, in the face of concurrent modification, the iterator fails quickly and cleanly, rather than risking arbitrary, non-deterministic behavior at an undetermined time in the future. The Enumerations returned by Hashtable's keys and elements methods are not fail-fast.

  Note that the fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed as it is, generally speaking, impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification. Fail-fast iterators throw `ConcurrentModificationException` on a best-effort basis. Therefore, it would be wrong to write a program that depended on this exception for its correctness: the fail-fast behavior of iterators should be used only to detect bugs.

  As of the Java 2 platform v1.2, this class was retrofitted to implement the `Map` interface, making it a member of the Java Collections Framework. Unlike the new collection implementations, `Hashtable` is synchronized. If a thread-safe implementation is not needed, it is recommended to use `HashMap` in place of `Hashtable`. If a thread-safe highly-concurrent implementation is desired, then it is recommended to use `ConcurrentHashMap` in place of `Hashtable`.

  Since:
    JDK1.0
  Author:
    Arthur van Hoff, Josh Bloch, Neal Gafter
  See Also:
    `Object.equals(java.lang.Object)`, `Object.hashCode()`, `rehash()`, `Collection`, `Map`, `HashMap`, `TreeMap`, Serialized Form

- - ### Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor and Description
    `Hashtable()` Constructs a new, empty hashtable with a default initial capacity (11) and load factor (0.75).
    `Hashtable(int initialCapacity)` Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and default load factor (0.75).
    `Hashtable(int initialCapacity, float loadFactor)` Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and the specified load factor.
    `Hashtable(Map<? extends K,? extends V> t)` Constructs a new hashtable with the same mappings as the given Map.

  - ### Method Summary

    All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods
    Modifier and Type | Method and Description
    --- | ---
    `void` | `clear()` Clears this hashtable so that it contains no keys.
    `Object` | `clone()` Creates a shallow copy of this hashtable.
    `boolean` | `contains(Object value)` Tests if some key maps into the specified value in this hashtable.
    `boolean` | `containsKey(Object key)` Tests if the specified object is a key in this hashtable.
    `boolean` | `containsValue(Object value)` Returns true if this hashtable maps one or more keys to this value.
    `Enumeration<V>` | `elements()` Returns an enumeration of the values in this hashtable.
    `Set<Map.Entry<K,V>>` | `entrySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the mappings contained in this map.
    `boolean` | `equals(Object o)` Compares the specified Object with this Map for equality, as per the definition in the Map interface.
    `V` | `get(Object key)` Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key.
    `int` | `hashCode()` Returns the hash code value for this Map as per the definition in the Map interface.
    `boolean` | `isEmpty()` Tests if this hashtable maps no keys to values.
    `Enumeration<K>` | `keys()` Returns an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.
    `Set<K>` | `keySet()` Returns a `Set` view of the keys contained in this map.
    `V` | `put(K key, V value)` Maps the specified `key` to the specified `value` in this hashtable.
    `void` | `putAll(Map<? extends K,? extends V> t)` Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this hashtable.
    `protected void` | `rehash()` Increases the capacity of and internally reorganizes this hashtable, in order to accommodate and access its entries more efficiently.
    `V` | `remove(Object key)` Removes the key (and its corresponding value) from this hashtable.
    `int` | `size()` Returns the number of keys in this hashtable.
    `String` | `toString()` Returns a string representation of this `Hashtable` object in the form of a set of entries, enclosed in braces and separated by the ASCII characters "`,` " (comma and space).
    `Collection<V>` | `values()` Returns a `Collection` view of the values contained in this map.

    - ### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

      `finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait`

    - ### Methods inherited from interface java.util.Map

      `compute, computeIfAbsent, computeIfPresent, forEach, getOrDefault, merge, putIfAbsent, remove, replace, replace, replaceAll`

- - ### Constructor Detail

    - #### Hashtable

          public Hashtable(int initialCapacity,
                           float loadFactor)

      Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and the specified load factor.
      Parameters:
        `initialCapacity` - the initial capacity of the hashtable.
        `loadFactor` - the load factor of the hashtable.
      Throws:
        `IllegalArgumentException` - if the initial capacity is less than zero, or if the load factor is nonpositive.

    - #### Hashtable

          public Hashtable(int initialCapacity)

      Constructs a new, empty hashtable with the specified initial capacity and default load factor (0.75).
      Parameters:
        `initialCapacity` - the initial capacity of the hashtable.
      Throws:
        `IllegalArgumentException` - if the initial capacity is less than zero.

    - #### Hashtable

          public Hashtable()

      Constructs a new, empty hashtable with a default initial capacity (11) and load factor (0.75).

    - #### Hashtable

          public Hashtable(Map<? extends K,? extends V> t)

      Constructs a new hashtable with the same mappings as the given Map. The hashtable is created with an initial capacity sufficient to hold the mappings in the given Map and a default load factor (0.75).
      Parameters:
        `t` - the map whose mappings are to be placed in this map.
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the specified map is null.
      Since:
        1.2

  - ### Method Detail

    - #### size

          public int size()

      Returns the number of keys in this hashtable.
      Specified by:
        `size` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Specified by:
        `size` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Returns:
        the number of keys in this hashtable.

    - #### isEmpty

          public boolean isEmpty()

      Tests if this hashtable maps no keys to values.
      Specified by:
        `isEmpty` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Specified by:
        `isEmpty` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Returns:
        `true` if this hashtable maps no keys to values; `false` otherwise.

    - #### keys

          public Enumeration<K> keys()

      Returns an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.
      Specified by:
        `keys` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Returns:
        an enumeration of the keys in this hashtable.
      See Also:
        `Enumeration`, `elements()`, `keySet()`, `Map`

    - #### elements

          public Enumeration<V> elements()

      Returns an enumeration of the values in this hashtable. Use the Enumeration methods on the returned object to fetch the elements sequentially.
      Specified by:
        `elements` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Returns:
        an enumeration of the values in this hashtable.
      See Also:
        `Enumeration`, `keys()`, `values()`, `Map`

    - #### contains

          public boolean contains(Object value)

      Tests if some key maps into the specified value in this hashtable. This operation is more expensive than the `containsKey` method.

      Note that this method is identical in functionality to `containsValue`, (which is part of the `Map` interface in the collections framework).

      Parameters:
        `value` - a value to search for
      Returns:
        `true` if and only if some key maps to the `value` argument in this hashtable as determined by the `equals` method; `false` otherwise.
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the value is `null`

    - #### containsValue

          public boolean containsValue(Object value)

      Returns true if this hashtable maps one or more keys to this value.

      Note that this method is identical in functionality to `contains` (which predates the `Map` interface).

      Specified by:
        `containsValue` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Parameters:
        `value` - value whose presence in this hashtable is to be tested
      Returns:
        `true` if this map maps one or more keys to the specified value
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the value is `null`
      Since:
        1.2

    - #### containsKey

          public boolean containsKey(Object key)

      Tests if the specified object is a key in this hashtable.
      Specified by:
        `containsKey` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Parameters:
        `key` - possible key
      Returns:
        `true` if and only if the specified object is a key in this hashtable, as determined by the `equals` method; `false` otherwise.
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the key is `null`
      See Also:
        `contains(Object)`

    - #### get

          public V get(Object key)

      Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key.

      More formally, if this map contains a mapping from a key `k` to a value `v` such that `(key.equals(k))`, then this method returns `v`; otherwise it returns `null`. (There can be at most one such mapping.)

      Specified by:
        `get` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Specified by:
        `get` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Parameters:
        `key` - the key whose associated value is to be returned
      Returns:
        the value to which the specified key is mapped, or `null` if this map contains no mapping for the key
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the specified key is null
      See Also:
        `put(Object, Object)`

    - #### rehash

          protected void rehash()

      Increases the capacity of and internally reorganizes this hashtable, in order to accommodate and access its entries more efficiently. This method is called automatically when the number of keys in the hashtable exceeds this hashtable's capacity and load factor.

    - #### put

          public V put(K key,
                       V value)

      Maps the specified `key` to the specified `value` in this hashtable. Neither the key nor the value can be `null`.

      The value can be retrieved by calling the `get` method with a key that is equal to the original key.

      Specified by:
        `put` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Specified by:
        `put` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Parameters:
        `key` - the hashtable key
        `value` - the value
      Returns:
        the previous value of the specified key in this hashtable, or `null` if it did not have one
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the key or value is `null`
      See Also:
        `Object.equals(Object)`, `get(Object)`

    - #### remove

          public V remove(Object key)

      Removes the key (and its corresponding value) from this hashtable. This method does nothing if the key is not in the hashtable.
      Specified by:
        `remove` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Specified by:
        `remove` in class `Dictionary<K,V>`
      Parameters:
        `key` - the key that needs to be removed
      Returns:
        the value to which the key had been mapped in this hashtable, or `null` if the key did not have a mapping
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the key is `null`

    - #### putAll

          public void putAll(Map<? extends K,? extends V> t)

      Copies all of the mappings from the specified map to this hashtable. These mappings will replace any mappings that this hashtable had for any of the keys currently in the specified map.
      Specified by:
        `putAll` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Parameters:
        `t` - mappings to be stored in this map
      Throws:
        `NullPointerException` - if the specified map is null
      Since:
        1.2

    - #### clear

          public void clear()

      Clears this hashtable so that it contains no keys.
      Specified by:
        `clear` in interface `Map<K,V>`

    - #### clone

          public Object clone()

      Creates a shallow copy of this hashtable. All the structure of the hashtable itself is copied, but the keys and values are not cloned. This is a relatively expensive operation.
      Overrides:
        `clone` in class `Object`
      Returns:
        a clone of the hashtable
      See Also:
        `Cloneable`

    - #### toString

          public String toString()

      Returns a string representation of this `Hashtable` object in the form of a set of entries, enclosed in braces and separated by the ASCII characters "`,` " (comma and space). Each entry is rendered as the key, an equals sign `=`, and the associated element, where the `toString` method is used to convert the key and element to strings.
      Overrides:
        `toString` in class `Object`
      Returns:
        a string representation of this hashtable

    - #### keySet

          public Set<K> keySet()

      Returns a `Set` view of the keys contained in this map. The set is backed by the map, so changes to the map are reflected in the set, and vice-versa. If the map is modified while an iteration over the set is in progress (except through the iterator's own `remove` operation), the results of the iteration are undefined. The set supports element removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the `Iterator.remove`, `Set.remove`, `removeAll`, `retainAll`, and `clear` operations. It does not support the `add` or `addAll` operations.
      Specified by:
        `keySet` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Returns:
        a set view of the keys contained in this map
      Since:
        1.2

    - #### entrySet

          public Set<Map.Entry<K,V>> entrySet()

      Returns a `Set` view of the mappings contained in this map. The set is backed by the map, so changes to the map are reflected in the set, and vice-versa. If the map is modified while an iteration over the set is in progress (except through the iterator's own `remove` operation, or through the `setValue` operation on a map entry returned by the iterator) the results of the iteration are undefined. The set supports element removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the `Iterator.remove`, `Set.remove`, `removeAll`, `retainAll` and `clear` operations. It does not support the `add` or `addAll` operations.
      Specified by:
        `entrySet` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Returns:
        a set view of the mappings contained in this map
      Since:
        1.2

    - #### values

          public Collection<V> values()

      Returns a `Collection` view of the values contained in this map. The collection is backed by the map, so changes to the map are reflected in the collection, and vice-versa. If the map is modified while an iteration over the collection is in progress (except through the iterator's own `remove` operation), the results of the iteration are undefined. The collection supports element removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the `Iterator.remove`, `Collection.remove`, `removeAll`, `retainAll` and `clear` operations. It does not support the `add` or `addAll` operations.
      Specified by:
        `values` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Returns:
        a collection view of the values contained in this map
      Since:
        1.2

    - #### equals

          public boolean equals(Object o)

      Compares the specified Object with this Map for equality, as per the definition in the Map interface.
      Specified by:
        `equals` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Overrides:
        `equals` in class `Object`
      Parameters:
        `o` - object to be compared for equality with this hashtable
      Returns:
        true if the specified Object is equal to this Map
      Since:
        1.2
      See Also:
        `Map.equals(Object)`

    - #### hashCode

          public int hashCode()

      Returns the hash code value for this Map as per the definition in the Map interface.
      Specified by:
        `hashCode` in interface `Map<K,V>`
      Overrides:
        `hashCode` in class `Object`
      Returns:
        a hash code value for this object.
      Since:
        1.2
      See Also:
        `Map.hashCode()`

Copyright © 2025 API Design. All Rights Reserved.