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JAVA : Best performance-wise method to find an object stored in hashMap

I have a bunch of objects stored in hashMap<Long,Person> i need to find the person object with a specific attribute without knowing its ID.
for example the person class:
public person{
long id;
String firstName;
String lastName;
String userName;
String password;
String address;
..
(around 7-10 attributes in total)
}
lets say i want to find the object with username = "mike". Is there any method to find it without actually iterating on the whole hash map like this :
for (Map.Entry<Long,Person> entry : map.entrySet()) {
if(entry.getValue().getUserName().equalsIgnoreCase("mike"));
the answers i found here was pretty old.

If you want speed and are always looking for one specific attribute, your best bet is to create another 'cache' hash-map keyed with that attribute.
The memory taken up will be insignificant for less than a million entries and the hash-map lookup will be much much faster than any other solution.
Alternatively you could put all search attributes into a single map (ie. names, and ids). Prefix the keys with something unique if you're concerned with collisions. Something like:
String ID_PREFIX = "^!^ID^!^";
String USERNAME_PREFIX = "^!^USERNAME^!^";
String FIRSTNAME_PREFIX = "^!^FIRSTNAME^!^";
Map<String,Person> personMap = new HashMap<String,Person>();
//add a person
void addPersonToMap(Person person)
{
personMap.put(ID_PREFIX+person.id, person);
personMap.put(USERNAME_PREFIX+person.username, person);
personMap.put(FIRSTNAME_PREFIX+person.firstname, person);
}
//search person
Person findPersonByID(long id)
{
return personMap.get(ID_PREFIX+id);
}
Person findPersonByUsername(String username)
{
return personMap.get(USERNAME_PREFIX+username);
}
//or a more generic version:
//Person foundPerson = findPersonByAttribute(FIRSTNAME_PREFIX, "mike");
Person findPersonByAttribute(String attr, String attr_value)
{
return personMap.get(attr+attr_value);
}
The above assumes that each attribute is unique amongst all the Persons. This might be true for ID and username, but the question specifies firstname=mike which is unlikely to be unique.
In that case you want to abstract with a list, so it would be more like this:
Map<String,List<Person>> personMap = new HashMap<String,List<Person>>();
//add a person
void addPersonToMap(Person person)
{
insertPersonIntoMap(ID_PREFIX+person.id, person);
insertPersonIntoMap(USERNAME_PREFIX+person.username, person);
insertPersonIntoMap(FIRSTNAME_PREFIX+person.firstname, person);
}
//note that List contains no duplicates, so can be called multiple times for the same person.
void insertPersonIntoMap(String key, Person person)
{
List<Person> personsList = personMap.get(key);
if(personsList==null)
personsList = new ArrayList<Person>();
personsList.add(person);
personMap.put(key,personsList);
}
//we know id is unique, so we can just get the only person in the list
Person findPersonByID(long id)
{
List<Person> personList = personMap.get(ID_PREFIX+id);
if(personList!=null)
return personList.get(0);
return null;
}
//get list of persons with firstname
List<Person> findPersonsByFirstName(String firstname)
{
return personMap.get(FIRSTNAME_PREFIX+firstname);
}
At that point you're really getting into a grab-bag design but still very efficient if you're not expecting millions of entries.

The best performance-wise method I can think of is to have another HashMap, with the key being the attribute you want to search for, and the value being a list of objects.
For your example this would be HashMap<String, List<Person>>, with the key being the username. The downside is that you have to maintain two maps.
Note: I've used a List<Person> as the value because we cannot guarantee that username is unique among all users. The same applies for any other field.
For example, to add a Person to this new map you could do:
Map<String, List<Person>> peopleByUsername = new HashMap<>();
// ...
Person p = ...;
peopleByUsername.computeIfAbsent(
p.getUsername(),
k -> new ArrayList<>())
.add(p);
Then, to return all people whose username is i.e. joesmith:
List<Person> matching = peopleByUsername.get("joesmith");

Getting one or a few entries from a volatile map
If the map you're operating on can change often and you only want to get a few entries then iterating over the map's entries is ok since you'd need space and time to build other structures or sort the data as well.
Getting many entries from a volatile map
If you need to get many entries from that map you might get better performance by either sorting the entries first (e.g. build a list and sort that) and then using binary search. Alternatively you could build an intermediate map that uses the attribute(s) you need to search for as its key.
Note, however, that both approaches at least need time so this only yields better performance when you're looking for many entries.
Getting entries multiple times from a "persistent" map
If your map and its valuies doesn't change (or not that often) you could maintain a map attribute -> person. This would mean some effort for the initial setup and updating the additional map (unless your data doesn't change) as well as some memory overhead but speeds up lookups tremendously later on. This is a worthwhile approach when you'd do very little "writes" compared to how often you do lookups and if you can spare the memory overhead (depends on how big those maps would be and how much memory you have to spare).

Consider one hashmap per alternate key.
This will have "high" setup cost,
but will result in quick retrieval by alternate key.
Setup the hashmap using the Long key value.
Run through the hashmap Person objects and create a second hashmap (HashMap<String, Person>) for which username is the key.
Perhaps, fill both hashmaps at the same time.
In your case,
you will end up with something like HashMap<Long, Person> idKeyedMap and HashMap<String, Person> usernameKeyedMap.
You can also put all the key values in the same map,
if you define the map as Map<Object, Person>.
Then,
when you add the
(id, person) pair,
you need to also add the (username, person) pair.
Caveat, this is not a great technique.

What is the best way to solve the problem?
There are many ways to tackle this as you can see in the answers and comments.
How is the Map is being used (and perhaps how it is created). If the Map is built from a select statement with the long id value from a column from a table we might think we should use HashMap<Long, Person>.
Another way to look at the problem is to consider usernames should also be unique (i.e. no two persons should ever share the same username). So instead create the map as a HashMap<String, Person>. With username as the key and the Person object as the value.
Using the latter:
Map<String, Person> users = new HashMap<>();
users = retrieveUsersFromDatabase(); // perform db select and build map
String username = "mike";
users.get(username).
This will be the fastest way to retrieve the object you want to find in a Map containing Person objects as its values.

You can simply convert Hashmap to List using:
List list = new ArrayList(map.values());
Now, you can iterate through the list object easily. This way you can search Hashmap values on any property of Person class not just limiting to firstname.
Only downside is you will end up creating a list object. But using stream api you can further improve code to convert Hashmap to list and iterate in single operation saving space and improved performance with parallel streams.

Sorting and finding of value object can be done by designing and using an appropriate Comparator class.
Comparator Class : Designing a Comparator with respect to a specific attribute can be done as follows:
class UserComparator implements Comparator<Person>{
#Override
public int compare(Person p1, Person p2) {
return p1.userName.compareTo(p2.userName);
}
}
Usage : Comparator designed above can be used as follows:
HashMap<Long, Person> personMap = new HashMap<Long, Person>();
.
.
.
ArrayList<Person> pAL = new ArrayList<Person>(personMap.values()); //create list of values
Collections.sort(pAL,new UserComparator()); // sort the list using comparator
Person p = new Person(); // create a dummy object
p.userName="mike"; // Only set the username
int i= Collections.binarySearch(pAL,p,new UserComparator()); // search the list using comparator
if(i>=0){
Person p1 = pAL.get(Collections.binarySearch(pAL,p,new UserComparator())); //Obtain object if username is present
}else{
System.out.println("Insertion point: "+ i); // Returns a negative value if username is not present
}

Creating unique ArrayList for each Hash Map key value - Java

I am trying to read in information about the inputs to each gate in a circuit simulator I'm making. The file information for the input connections looks like this:
// Connections from inputs to gates (inputLabel, gateLabel)
INPUT(A, AND1)
INPUT(B, AND1)
INPUT(B, AND2)
INPUT(C, AND2)
I am trying to create a Map with the key being the gateLabel, and storing the inputLabel information.
I.e. -
Key --- Info
AND1 | A,B
AND2 | B,C
The code I have at the moment is this:
String inputCircuitLabel = params[0];
String inGateLabel = params[1];
if(!iConnM.containsKey(inGateLabel)){
inputCircuitLabels.add(inputCircuitLabel);
iConnM.put(inGateLabel, inputCircuitLabels);
}
else{
inputCircuitLabels.add(inCircuitLabel);
}
I was wondering if there is an intuitive way to make a separate class, and make a call to it something like:
GateInput gi = new GateInput(inGateLabel);
ArrayList<GateInput> al;
In order to get a unique arrayList for each gateLabel. Because at the moment AND2 ends up referencing A,B,B,C instead of just B,C.

You should be able to accomplish this with a Map of String->List. Using this approach, each gate label will get it's own unique List of circuit labels.
Example code:
Map<String, List<String>> iConnM = new HashMap<String, List<String>>();
String inputCircuitLabel = params[0];
String inGateLabel = params[1];
if (!iConnM.containsKey(inGateLabel)) {
iConnM.put(inGateLabel, Arrays.asList(inputCircuitLabel));
} else {
iConnM.get(inGateLabel).add(inputCircuitLabel);
}

How to store key value pairs in SharedPreferences?

I am developing an app that generates passwords randomly. I am adding a "save" feature so that the user can save their passwords in SharedPreferences. (which is not what you are supposed to do with your passwords)
I have an activity called PasswordActivity and in that activity I display the saved passwords.
This is how I save a password: I prompt the user to enter a name/key thingy for the password so that he/she can identify it later. And then I save the key and the password in the SharedPreferences using the following method in a utility class:
public static int savePassword (Context c, String passwordKey, String passwordValue) {
SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences (c);
Set<String> keys = prefs.getStringSet (PASSWORD_KEYS, new HashSet<String> ());
Set<String> values = prefs.getStringSet (PASSWORD_VALUES, new HashSet<String> ());
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = prefs.edit ();
boolean duplicateKey = !keys.add (passwordKey);
boolean duplicateValue = !values.add (passwordValue);
if (duplicateKey)
return KEY_DUPLICATE;
if (duplicateValue)
return VALUE_DUPLICATE;
editor.putStringSet (PASSWORD_KEYS, keys).
putStringSet (PASSWORD_VALUES, values).apply ();
return SUCCESS;
}
And I wrote another method to get the passwords and their names. The method returns a HashMap<String, String> as you might have guessed.
public static HashMap<String, String> getPasswords (Context c) {
SharedPreferences prefs = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences (c);
Set<String> keys = prefs.getStringSet (PASSWORD_KEYS, new HashSet<String> ());
Set<String> values = prefs.getStringSet (PASSWORD_VALUES, new HashSet<String> ());
ArrayList<String> keysList = new ArrayList<> ();
ArrayList<String> valuesList = new ArrayList<> ();
for (String key : keys) {
keysList.add (key);
}
for (String value : values) {
valuesList.add (value);
}
HashMap<String, String> map = new HashMap<> ();
for (int i = 0 ; i < keys.size () ; i++) {
map.put (keysList.get (i), valuesList.get (i));
}
return map;
}
I admit that the code is pretty messy. I first get the things in the two sets and turn them into ArrayLists and add the stuff in the array list to the map and return.
Phew! That was a lot of work!
Now when the user generates a password and saves it, the two sets contain the right things: (These are fake data)
keys:
key1
values:
value1
That's all good. But when I generate another password and save it, the two sets become messy:
keys:
key1
key2
values:
value2
value1
Now when I call the getPasswords method, it will return
{key1, value2}, {key2, value1}
which is incorrect. After looking at the docs, I found out that:
It makes no guarantees as to the iteration order of the set; in particular, it does not guarantee that the order will remain constant over time.
which I guess is the reason that makes the incorrect results.
So I was wondering is there an alternative way to store these passwords and their names?

As you're storing multiple names & passwords, i would suggest a local SQLite database. SharedPreferences are meant for single values, not sets of values.
If you can't be bothered setting up the entire SQLiteOpenHelper and all that raw SQL code, you could take a look at some ORM helpers such as SugarOrm (i currently use this, its EXTREMELY easy to set up and use)

I would recommend a database, such as SQLCipher for Android, so the user can provide a master passphrase for the app, and all the data is stored encrypted on the device.
But, let's pretend that, in order to successfully repel an alien invasion and prevent the wholesale slaughter of countless humans, you have to implement this using SharedPreferences. After that, you will need to fly with a wise-cracking companion in a commandeered alien spacecraft and successfully upload your app into the computer systems of one of the alien mother ships (which, fortunately, happen to be running Android, as Android has remarkable market share across the galaxy).
Either:
Have each key and value be separate entries in the SharedPreferences. After all, SharedPreferences is a key-value store. Use a dedicated preference file for your keys and values (so as not to collide with anything else you might want to store), then you know that all the keys are ones from the user.
Marshal the HashMap into JSON or XML or something and save that as a string, unmarshalling it as needed.

how to implement below data structure in java using collection framework

I have below data structure like this
Country,StateID1 where StateID1 contains "City1","City2","City3" etc
Country,StateID2 where StateID2 contains "City1","City2","City3" etc
I know i can't use HashMap to implement above data structure because if i add StateID2 to same Country StateID1 will be replace with StateID2
for eg
map.put("1","1111");
map.put("1","2222");
output
key:value
1:2222`
i am facing hard time to figure out how to do this. I need some support from you guys

You need some wrapping object for storing your 'state' data. Then you can have a structure like this: Map<String, List<StateBean>>. This way you can handle a list of state for every country.
If data are just Strings use Map<String, List<String>>

You can have a Map<String, Set<String>>.

Store the StationIDs in an ArrayList object and add those object in a HashMap using key-value pair .. where key is the Country against the StationId ArrayList Object.
StateID1 = ["City1","City2"] // ArrayList
StateID2 = ["City1","City2"]

We could have the map as Country,ListOfStates
ListOfStates could be a list that contains StateIds
Or StateIds as a Map with StateId as key and list of cities as value

You could create a class for the same.
class YourClass
{
String country;
State state;
}
class State
{
Set<String> cities;
}
You can then use this class as a data structure. You don't really need to use Collections framework for the same.
OR
If you really want to do it using Collections, then you can use a combination of Country and StateId as the key, and the list of cities as the value in a Map. For ex:
String country = "1";
String state = "1";
String separator = "-" // You could use any separator
String key = country + separator + state;
Set<String> cities = new HashSet<String>();
cities.add("1");
cities.add("2");
Map<String, Set<String>> map = new HashMap<>();
map.put(key, cities);
So your key would be 1-1 and value would be 12.

Use can Data Structure map < String,vector < String >> , map < class T,vector < class U > >

Best way to save some data and then retrieve it

I have a project where I save some data coming from different channels of a Soap Service, for example:
String_Value Long_timestamp Double_value String_value String_value Int_value
I can have many lines (i.e. 200), with different values, like the one above.
I thought that I could use an ArrayList, however data can have a different structure than the one above, so an ArrayList maybe isn't a good solution in order to retrieve data from it.
For example above I have, after the first two values that are always fixed, 4 values, but in another channel I may have 3, or 5, values. What I want retrieve data, I must know how many values have a particular line, and I think that Arraylist doesn't help me.
What solution could I use?

When you have a need to uniquely identify varying length input, a HashMap usually works quite well. For example, you can have a class:
public class Record
{
private HashMap<String, String> values;
public Record()
{
// create your hashmap.
values = new HashMap<String, String>();
}
public String getData(String key)
{
return values.get(key);
}
public void addData(String key, String value)
{
values.put(key, value);
}
}
With this type of structure, you can save as many different values as you want. What I would do is loop through each value passed from Soap and simply add to the Record, then keep a list of Record objects.
Record rec = new Record();
rec.addData("timestamp", timestamp);
rec.addData("Value", value);
rec.addData("Plans for world domination", dominationPlans);

You could build your classes representing the entities and then build a parser ... If it isn't in a standard format (eg JSON, YAML, ecc...) you have no choice to develop your own parser .

Create a class with fields.
class ClassName{
int numberOfValues;
String dataString;
...
}
Now create an ArrayList of that class like ArrayList<ClassName> and for each record fill that class object with numberOfValues and dataString and add in Arraylist.