How is a dictionary (key value) related to a hash?
2nd September 2013
My answer to How is a dictionary (key value) related to a hash? on Quora
The following terms describe essentially the same data structure across a number of different languages:
- A Perl hash
- A Ruby hash
- A Python dictionary
- A Java Map (an interface used by HashMap and others)
- A Lua table
- A JavaScript object (if you ignore object prototypes)
More recent articles
- My review of Claude's new Code Interpreter, released under a very confusing name - 9th September 2025
- Recreating the Apollo AI adoption rate chart with GPT-5, Python and Pyodide - 9th September 2025
- GPT-5 Thinking in ChatGPT (aka Research Goblin) is shockingly good at search - 6th September 2025