The Supreme Guide to Golang Maps

How to Create Maps in Golang?

• Using the Map Literal:

Map with key-value pair

Syntax:

map[Key_Type]Value_Type{key1: value1, ..., keyN: valueN}

• Using Make Function

A map can also be created by passing the type of key and value to the make() function. It is an inbuilt function. With the following syntax, we can create a new map.

Syntax:

make(map[type of key]type of value) 

Creating an Empty Map

We can create an empty map by following two ways. One is by using the make() function and the other by using the map literal.

The zero or default value of a map is nil. A run-time panic will occur if you try to add elements to a nil map. Hence the map has to be initialized before adding elements. As we already know, the make() function always returns an initialized map. So we can add value to it.

How to Iterate Over a Map?

Using the range for loop, we can iterate over a map. The values printed through the loop may vary because the map is an unordered collection.

Accessing Map Elements

We can access the map elements with the following syntax.

Syntax:

value = map_name[key]

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Updating and Adding Map Elements

We can update and add the map elements with the following syntax.

Syntax:

map_name[key] = value

Remove Element from Map

We can remove the map elements using the delete() function.

Syntax:

delete(map_name, key)

Check for Specific Elements in a Map

We can check if a certain key exists in a map with the following syntax.

Syntax:

val, ok :=map_name[key]

We can use the blank identifier (_) in place of val, to check the existence of a certain key.

Maps Are Reference Types

Maps are reference types. When you assign a map to a new variable, both refer to the same underlying data structure. The changes done by one variable will affect the content of the other.

Length of Map

We can find the length of a map using the len() function. The len() function calculates the number of elements in a map. 

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Maps Equality

Maps can be compared by checking each one's individual elements one by one. It can't be compared using the == operator. The == operator only works to check if a map is nil.

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Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to create and initialize and declare maps, how to create an Empty Map, how to iterate over a Map, how to access map elements, how to update and add map elements, remove elements from map and a lot more operations of Map. This article is comprehensive, covering all the key topics relating to Map in Golang. 

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