How can I convert immutable.Map to mutable.Map in Scala?

Question

How can I convert immutable.Map to mutable.Map in Scala so I can update the values in Map?

Answer 1

There is a variant to create an empty mutable Map that has default values taken from the immutable Map. You may store a value and override the default at any time:

scala> import collection.immutable.{Map => IMap}
//import collection.immutable.{Map=>IMap}

scala> import collection.mutable.HashMap
//import collection.mutable.HashMap

scala> val iMap = IMap(1 -> "one", 2 -> "two")
//iMap: scala.collection.immutable.Map[Int,java.lang.String] = Map((1,one), (2,two))

scala> val mMap = new HashMap[Int,String] {      
     | override def default(key: Int): String = iMap(key)
     | }
//mMap: scala.collection.mutable.HashMap[Int,String] = Map()

scala> mMap(1)
//res0: String = one

scala> mMap(2)
//res1: String = two

scala> mMap(3)
//java.util.NoSuchElementException: key not found: 3
//  at scala.collection.MapLike$class.default(MapLike.scala:223)
//  at scala.collection.immutable.Map$Map2.default(Map.scala:110)
//  at scala.collection.MapLike$class.apply(MapLike.scala:134)
//  at scala.collection.immutable.Map$Map2.apply(Map.scala:110)
//  at $anon$1.default(:9)
//  at $anon$1.default(:8)
//  at scala.collection.MapLike$class.apply(MapLike.scala:134)....

scala> mMap(2) = "three"

scala> mMap(2)          
//res4: String = three

Caveat (see the comment by Rex Kerr): You will not be able to remove the elements coming from the immutable map:

scala> mMap.remove(1)
//res5: Option[String] = None

scala> mMap(1)
//res6: String = one