Can Java use String as an index array key? (ex: array[“a”]=1;)

Question

Can Java use a String as an index array key? Example:

array[\"a\"] = 1;

Answer 1

No - you want a map to do that:

Map map = new HashMap<>();
map.put("a", 2);

Then to get it:

int val = map.get("a"); //2

You can only use the square bracket syntax for arrays, not for any of the collections. So something like:

int val = map["a"]; //Compile error

Will always be illegal. You have to use the get() method.