1090

What is the difference between HashMap, LinkedHashMap and TreeMap in Java?

I don't see any difference in the output as all the three has keySet and values.

Also, what are Hashtables?

Map<String, String> m1 = new HashMap<>();
m1.put("map", "HashMap");
m1.put("schildt", "java2");
m1.put("mathew", "Hyden");
m1.put("schildt", "java2s");
print(m1.keySet()); 
print(m1.values()); 

SortedMap<String, String> sm = new TreeMap<>();
sm.put("map", "TreeMap");
sm.put("schildt", "java2");
sm.put("mathew", "Hyden");
sm.put("schildt", "java2s");
print(sm.keySet()); 
print(sm.values());

LinkedHashMap<String, String> lm = new LinkedHashMap<>();
lm.put("map", "LinkedHashMap");
lm.put("schildt", "java2");
lm.put("mathew", "Hyden");
lm.put("schildt", "java2s");
print(lm.keySet()); 
print(lm.values());
0

18 Answers 18

1860
+25

I prefer visual presentation:

Property HashMap TreeMap LinkedHashMap
Iteration Order no guaranteed order, will remain constant over time sorted according to the natural ordering or a Comparator insertion order (or access order)
get / put / remove / containsKey O(1) O(log(n)) O(1)
Interfaces Map NavigableMap, SortedMap, SequencedMap, Map SequencedMap, Map
Null values/keys allowed only values unless custom Comparator supports null allowed
Fail-fast behavior Fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed; impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification Fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed; impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification Fail-fast behavior of an iterator cannot be guaranteed; impossible to make any hard guarantees in the presence of unsynchronized concurrent modification
Implementation buckets red-black tree double-linked buckets
Is synchronized not synchronized not synchronized not synchronized
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7 Comments

In addition to insertion-order, LinkedHashMap also supports access-order (when using the constructor with the boolean access-order param).
Double Linked Buckets? I think that adds unnecessary overhead of searching for the bucket for insertion/removal operations (because it has to search for the right bucket to put the object in). I always thought that LinkedHashMap implementations would be similar to that of a Map but with a little extra overhead of "entries list" (may be as a linked list) that's used for iteration purposes. Are you sure, shevchyk? If yes, can you explain or give me some online links that back your statement?
@SaiDubbaka LinkedHashMap has the double linked buckets BUT ALSO the bucket table HashMap has. It's not replacing it. This means that accessing buckets is done in the same way as in HashMap, as the linked list is there for iteration in insertion order (or access order) only.
It may be worth mentioning, that O(1) is the best case scenario (which we wouldn't usually call O, see this question)
It's also worth noting that O(1) isn't always better than O(log n); if you have a very long key, something based on BSTs might be much faster than something that has to perform an O(n) hash on the whole key before being able to do anything.
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1262

All three classes implement the Map interface and offer mostly the same functionality. The most important difference is the order in which iteration through the entries will happen:

  • HashMap makes absolutely no guarantees about the iteration order. It can (and will) even change completely when new elements are added.
  • TreeMap will iterate according to the "natural ordering" of the keys according to their compareTo() method (or an externally supplied Comparator). Additionally, it implements the SortedMap interface, which contains methods that depend on this sort order.
  • LinkedHashMap will iterate in the order in which the entries were put into the map

"Hashtable" is the generic name for hash-based maps. In the context of the Java API, Hashtable is an obsolete class from the days of Java 1.1 before the collections framework existed. It should not be used anymore, because its API is cluttered with obsolete methods that duplicate functionality, and its methods are synchronized (which can decrease performance and is generally useless). Use ConcurrentHashMap instead of Hashtable.

8 Comments

What is then Map actually and whats the difference between Map,HashMap and Hashtables.
@theband: Map is an interface. HashMap and Hashtable both implement it; as I wrote, Hashtable is a legacy class.
A notable difference between Hashtable and HashMap is that in a Hashtable, "neither the key nor the value can be null". This constraint does not exist on the latter.
@AshkanN: Yes - in fact those are the standard ways to implement sorting. TreeMap has a constructor that takes a Comparator to use, and if none is provided, it expects all objects added to implement Comparable.
You can choose whether you want the LinkedHashMap iteration in insertion-order or access-order.
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71

All three represent mapping from unique keys to values, and therefore implement the Map interface.

  1. HashMap is a map based on hashing of the keys. It supports O(1) get/put operations. Keys must have consistent implementations of hashCode() and equals() for this to work.

  2. LinkedHashMap is very similar to HashMap, but it adds awareness to the order at which items are added (or accessed), so the iteration order is the same as insertion order (or access order, depending on construction parameters).

  3. TreeMap is a tree based mapping. Its put/get operations take O(log n) time. It requires items to have some comparison mechanism, either with Comparable or Comparator. The iteration order is determined by this mechanism.

6 Comments

So if I understand correctly, the only difference between LinkedHashMap and TreeMap is performance, given that the order of insertion is the same as the natural order?
@MosheShaham As he said in # 2: LinkedHashMap will iterate in the insertion order, not the natural order. So if you add (2,5,3) to a LinkedHashMap and do a for each over it, it will return 2,5,3. If it were 2,5,3 to a TreeMap it will return 2,3,5.
Tree map also has a lot of other nice tricks. Like head and tail maps.
private TreeMap<String ,Integer> mySection2 = new TreeMap<>(); mySection2.put("abc1", 2); mySection2.put("abc2",5); mySection2.put("abc3",3); for(Integer x : mySection2.values()) { Log.e("LOG","TreeMap===="+x); } This is giving me the same order as items were inserted ?please suggest how is it different from LinkedHashMaps ?
@B.shruti: This is because your insertion order matches the lexicographic order of your keys ("abc1", "abc2", "abc3"). If you insert in a different order, your code will still iterate according to the lexicographic ordering.
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58

See where each class is in the class hierarchy in the following diagram (bigger one). TreeMap implements SortedMap and NavigableMap while HashMap doesn't.

HashTable is obsolete and the corresponding ConcurrentHashMap class should be used. enter image description here

2 Comments

this is amazing answer with this diagram
As of Java 21, the SequencedMap interface exists which is a parent to both SortedSet and LinkedHashSet.
43

HashMap

  • It has pair values(keys,values)
  • NO duplication key values
  • unordered unsorted
  • it allows one null key and more than one null values

HashTable

  • same as hash map
  • it does not allows null keys and null values

LinkedHashMap

  • It is ordered version of map implementation
  • Based on linked list and hashing data structures

TreeMap

  • Ordered and sortered version
  • based on hashing data structures

1 Comment

Also HashTable is synchronized. Anyways,, I like your answer, clean and clear.
38

Just some more input from my own experience with maps, on when I would use each one:

  • HashMap - Most useful when looking for a best-performance (fast) implementation.
  • TreeMap (SortedMap interface) - Most useful when I'm concerned with being able to sort or iterate over the keys in a particular order that I define.
  • LinkedHashMap - Combines advantages of guaranteed ordering from TreeMap without the increased cost of maintaining the TreeMap. (It is almost as fast as the HashMap). In particular, the LinkedHashMap also provides a great starting point for creating a Cache object by overriding the removeEldestEntry() method. This lets you create a Cache object that can expire data using some criteria that you define.

1 Comment

To be precise, TreeMap doesn't keep the elements in order. It keeps the keys in order.
24

All three classes HashMap, TreeMap and LinkedHashMap implements java.util.Map interface, and represents mapping from unique key to values.

HashMap

  1. A HashMap contains values based on the key.

  2. It contains only unique elements.

  3. It may have one null key and multiple null values.

  4. It maintains no order.

    public class HashMap<K,V> extends AbstractMap<K,V> implements Map<K,V>, Cloneable, Serializable

LinkedHashMap

  1. A LinkedHashMap contains values based on the key.
  2. It contains only unique elements.
  3. It may have one null key and multiple null values.
  4. It is same as HashMap instead maintains insertion order. //See class deceleration below

    public class LinkedHashMap<K,V> extends HashMap<K,V> implements Map<K,V>

TreeMap

  1. A TreeMap contains values based on the key. It implements the NavigableMap interface and extends AbstractMap class.
  2. It contains only unique elements.
  3. It cannot have null key but can have multiple null values.
  4. It is same as HashMap instead maintains ascending order(Sorted using the natural order of its key.).

    public class TreeMap<K,V> extends AbstractMap<K,V> implements NavigableMap<K,V>, Cloneable, Serializable

Hashtable

  1. A Hashtable is an array of list. Each list is known as a bucket. The position of bucket is identified by calling the hashcode() method. A Hashtable contains values based on the key.
  2. It contains only unique elements.
  3. It may have not have any null key or value.
  4. It is synchronized.
  5. It is a legacy class.

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

Ref: http://javarevisited.blogspot.in/2015/08/difference-between-HashMap-vs-TreeMap-vs-LinkedHashMap-Java.html

8 Comments

Big-O notation of HashMap should not be O(1). That's the best case, and hashtables have O(n) as their worst case scenario. This is supported by your link.
@HaakonLøtveit I will also suggest to go for actual code here - grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/root/jdk/openjdk/…
That STILL says that it's O(n) in the worst case. It's a mathematical concept, and you don't get to say that it's O(1), unless it's actually O(1). You're also assuming some really good hashing functions here. I mean, we could use something like class TerribleHashKey { @Override hashCode() { return 4; /* Determined by fair dice throw */ }} and use that as a key for other fun stuff. Having a high probability of O(1) and having O(1) is not the same. People come here for help with their homework. Let's not ruin their grades.. ;)
And it would be worth noticing that in Java 8 you have worst case of O(log(n)) if you have more than 8 buckets, see grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/root/jdk/openjdk/… for details about this.
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13

HashMap makes absolutely not guarantees about the iteration order. It can (and will) even change completely when new elements are added. TreeMap will iterate according to the "natural ordering" of the keys according to their compareTo() method (or an externally supplied Comparator). Additionally, it implements the SortedMap interface, which contains methods that depend on this sort order. LinkedHashMap will iterate in the order in which the entries were put into the map

Look at how performance varying.. enter image description here

Tree map which is an implementation of Sorted map. The complexity of the put, get and containsKey operation is O(log n) due to the Natural ordering

1 Comment

Thank you, LinkedHashMap's "O(1) expense for maintaining the order" makes sense but do you have a reference to a more detailed explaination?
9

@Amit: SortedMap is an interface whereas TreeMap is a class which implements the SortedMap interface. That means if follows the protocol which SortedMap asks its implementers to do. A tree unless implemented as search tree, can't give you ordered data because tree can be any kind of tree. So to make TreeMap work like Sorted order, it implements SortedMap ( e.g, Binary Search Tree - BST, balanced BST like AVL and R-B Tree , even Ternary Search Tree - mostly used for iterative searches in ordered way ).

public class TreeMap<K,V>
extends AbstractMap<K,V>
implements SortedMap<K,V>, Cloneable, Serializable

In NUT-SHELL HashMap : gives data in O(1) , no ordering

TreeMap : gives data in O(log N), base 2. with ordered keys

LinkedHashMap : is Hash table with linked list (think of indexed-SkipList) capability to store data in the way it gets inserted in the tree. Best suited to implement LRU ( least recently used ).

Comments

8

Hash map doesn't preserves the insertion order.
Example. Hashmap If you are inserting keys as

1  3
5  9
4   6
7   15
3   10

It can store it as

4  6
5  9
3  10
1  3
7  15

Linked Hashmap preserves the insertion order.

Example.
If you are inserting keys

1  3
5  9
4   6
7   15
3   10

It will store it as

1  3
5  9
4   6
7   15
3   10

same as we insert.

Tree map stores the vales in Increasing Order Of Keys. Example.
If you are inserting keys

1  3
5  9
4   6
7   15
3   10

It will store it as

1  3
3  10
4   6
5   9
7   15

Comments

7
  • HashMap:

    • Order not maintains
    • Faster than LinkedHashMap
    • Used for store heap of objects
  • LinkedHashMap:

    • LinkedHashMap insertion order will be maintained
    • Slower than HashMap and faster than TreeMap
    • If you want to maintain an insertion order use this.
  • TreeMap:

    • TreeMap is a tree-based mapping
    • TreeMap will follow the natural ordering of key
    • Slower than HashMap and LinkedHashMap
    • Use TreeMap when you need to maintain natural(default) ordering

Comments

6

Following are major difference between HashMap and TreeMap

  1. HashMap does not maintain any order. In other words , HashMap does not provide any guarantee that the element inserted first will be printed first, where as Just like TreeSet , TreeMap elements are also sorted according to the natural ordering of its elements

  2. Internal HashMap implementation use Hashing and TreeMap internally uses Red-Black tree implementation.

  3. HashMap can store one null key and many null values.TreeMap can not contain null keys but may contain many null values.

  4. HashMap take constant time performance for the basic operations like get and put i.e O(1).According to Oracle docs , TreeMap provides guaranteed log(n) time cost for the get and put method.

  5. HashMap is much faster than TreeMap, as performance time of HashMap is constant against the log time TreeMap for most operations.

  6. HashMap uses equals() method in comparison while TreeMap uses compareTo() method for maintaining ordering.

  7. HashMap implements Map interface while TreeMap implements NavigableMap interface.

Comments

5

While there are plenty of excellent Answers here, I'd like to present my own table describing the various Map implementations bundled with Java 11.

We can see these differences listed on the table graphic:

  • HashMap is the general-purpose Map commonly used when you have no special needs.
  • LinkedHashMap extends HashMap, adding this behavior: Maintains an order, the order in which the entries were originally added. Altering the value for key-value entry does not alter its place in the order.
  • TreeMap too maintains an order, but uses either (a) the “natural” order, meaning the value of the compareTo method on the key objects defined on the Comparable interface, or (b) invokes a Comparator implementation you provide.
  • NULLs: TreeMap does not allow a NULL as the key, while HashMap & LinkedHashMap do.
    • All three allow NULL as the value.
  • HashTable is legacy, from Java 1. Supplanted by the ConcurrentHashMap class. Quoting the Javadoc: ConcurrentHashMap obeys the same functional specification as Hashtable, and includes versions of methods corresponding to each method of Hashtable.

Table of map implementations in Java 11, comparing their features

Comments

4

These are different implementations of the same interface. Each implementation has some advantages and some disadvantages (fast insert, slow search) or vice versa.

For details look at the javadoc of TreeMap, HashMap, LinkedHashMap.

1 Comment

What are Hashtables actually and what makes it differ from a Map.
4

The most important among all the three is how they save the order of the entries.

HashMap - Does not save the order of the entries. eg.

public static void main(String[] args){
        HashMap<String,Integer> hashMap = new HashMap<>();
        hashMap.put("First",1);// First ---> 1 is put first in the map
        hashMap.put("Second",2);//Second ---> 2 is put second in the map
        hashMap.put("Third",3); // Third--->3 is put third in the map
        for(Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry : hashMap.entrySet())
        {
            System.out.println(entry.getKey()+"--->"+entry.getValue());
        }
    }

Output for HashMap

LinkedHashMap : It save the order in which entries were made. eg:

public static void main(String[] args){
        LinkedHashMap<String,Integer> linkedHashMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
        linkedHashMap.put("First",1);// First ---> 1 is put first in the map
        linkedHashMap.put("Second",2);//Second ---> 2 is put second in the map
        linkedHashMap.put("Third",3); // Third--->3 is put third in the map
        for(Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry : linkedHashMap.entrySet())
        {
            System.out.println(entry.getKey()+"--->"+entry.getValue());
        }
    }

Output of LinkedHashMap

TreeMap : It saves the entries in ascending order of the keys. eg:

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        TreeMap<String,Integer> treeMap = new TreeMap<>();
        treeMap.put("A",1);// A---> 1 is put first in the map
        treeMap.put("C",2);//C---> 2 is put second in the map
        treeMap.put("B",3); //B--->3 is put third in the map
        for(Map.Entry<String,Integer> entry : treeMap.entrySet())
        {
            System.out.println(entry.getKey()+"--->"+entry.getValue());
        }
    }

Output of TreeMap

1 Comment

I like your examples
2

All offer a key->value map and a way to iterate through the keys. The most important distinction between these classes are the time guarantees and the ordering of the keys.

  1. HashMap offers 0(1) lookup and insertion. If you iterate through the keys, though, the ordering of the keys is essentially arbitrary. It is implemented by an array of linked lists.
  2. TreeMap offers O(log N) lookup and insertion. Keys are ordered, so if you need to iterate through the keys in sorted order, you can. This means that keys must implement the Comparable interface.TreeMap is implemented by a Red-Black Tree.
  3. LinkedHashMap offers 0(1) lookup and insertion. Keys are ordered by their insertion order. It is implemented by doubly-linked buckets.

Imagine you passed an empty TreeMap, HashMap, and LinkedHashMap into the following function:

void insertAndPrint(AbstractMap<Integer, String> map) {
  int[] array= {1, -1, 0};
  for (int x : array) {
    map.put(x, Integer.toString(x));
  }
  for (int k: map.keySet()) {
   System.out.print(k + ", ");
  }
}

The output for each will look like the results below.

For HashMap, the output was, in my own tests, { 0, 1, -1}, but it could be any ordering. There is no guarantee on the ordering.
Treemap,the output was,{ -1, 0, 1}
LinkedList,the output was,{ 1, -1, 0}

Comments

1

Java 21+

SequencedMap

Difference between HashMap, LinkedHashMap and TreeMap

The first is unordered, while the other two are sequenced.

As of Java 21, we have the SequencedMap interface. With this interface, we can add/retrieve directly the first/last entries. And we can easily traverse the collection in reverse if need be.

For more info, study JEP 431: Sequenced Collections. And watch the excellent presentation by Stuart Marks, technical lead of this feature.

Of the three classes you mention, two implement this interface.

The LinkedHashMap class keeps its entries in insertion-order, or, optionally, access-order.

The TreeMap class its entries in the natural order of its keys. Or, alternatively, you can specify a Comparator to be used in sorting the keys.

Both LinkedHashMap & TreeMap iterate through entries in a predictable reliable encounter-order.

SequencedMap is now the super-interface of ConcurrentNavigableMap, NavigableMap, and SortedMap.

In contrast, HashMap implements Map but not SequencedMap (nor ConcurrentNavigableMap, NavigableMap, SortedMap). So entries in a HashMap have no predictable encounter-order. Indeed, the order may even change between iterations.

Class Map SequencedMap ConcurrentNavigableMap NavigableMap SortedMap
LinkedHashMap
TreeMap
ConcurrentSkipListMap
HashMap

Decision tree

If you want a Map with fast access to any arbitrary entry by key:

  • Use HashMap.
    • If accessed across threads, use ConcurrentHashMap.
    • If you want an entry removed automatically when no other references to its key remain, use WeakHashMap.

If you want the keys maintained in a certain order, use a SequencedMap:

  • If you want the keys kept in insertion-order (or access-order), choose LinkedHashMap as your implementation of SequencedMap.
  • If you want the keys to sort themselves, “natural order”, choose TreeMap.
    • If you want to provide a Comparator to sort those keys, also choose TreeMap.
    • If you have a large number of elements, or need access across threads, choose ConcurrentSkipListMap instead of TreeMap.

You can retrieve a SequencedSet of the keys from a SequencedMap by calling sequencedKeySet.

If your keys are of an enum type, and you want the keys kept in the order in which the enum declares, use EnumMap. For example, Map < java.time.Month , Employee > monthlyAssignmentMap = new EnumMap<>() ;.

In the rare cases wherein reference-equality semantics are required, use IdentityHashMap.

Avoid the legacy class Hashtable.

Comments

0

HashMap
can contain one null key.

HashMap maintains no order.

TreeMap

TreeMap can not contain any null key.

TreeMap maintains ascending order.

LinkedHashMap

LinkedHashMap can be used to maintain insertion order, on which keys are inserted into Map or it can also be used to maintain an access order, on which keys are accessed.

Examples::

1) HashMap map = new HashMap();

    map.put(null, "Kamran");
    map.put(2, "Ali");
    map.put(5, "From");
    map.put(4, "Dir");`enter code here`
    map.put(3, "Lower");
    for (Map.Entry m : map.entrySet()) {
        System.out.println(m.getKey() + "  " + m.getValue());
    } 

2) TreeMap map = new TreeMap();

    map.put(1, "Kamran");
    map.put(2, "Ali");
    map.put(5, "From");
    map.put(4, "Dir");
    map.put(3, "Lower");
    for (Map.Entry m : map.entrySet()) {
        System.out.println(m.getKey() + "  " + m.getValue());
    }

3) LinkedHashMap map = new LinkedHashMap();

    map.put(1, "Kamran");
    map.put(2, "Ali");
    map.put(5, "From");
    map.put(4, "Dir");
    map.put(3, "Lower");
    for (Map.Entry m : map.entrySet()) {
        System.out.println(m.getKey() + "  " + m.getValue());
    }

Comments

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