namecollections

Namecollections is a general term used in software design to describe a collection in which each item is identified by a unique name or key. This concept is realized in many programming languages as associative arrays, maps, or dictionaries, and it enables fast lookup by name and straightforward organization of related data.

A namecollection typically stores pairs of (name, value). Common operations include adding a new item with a name, removing an item by name, retrieving a value by its name, and changing an item's name or value. Depending on the implementation, iteration over a namecollection may yield items in insertion order or sorted by name. Some implementations also support nested namecollections or case-insensitive keys, and there may be thread-safe variants for concurrent access.

Common implementations and terminology: In Python, a dict is a namecollection. In JavaScript, objects or Map instances serve the role. Java uses Map interfaces, and C# provides Dictionary and related types. In configuration and resource management, namecollections are often wrapped as registries, catalogs, or resource stores.

Use cases: configuration settings grouped by names, resource or asset registries, localization strings keyed by locale and key, user registries, and plugin or module registries.

Considerations: ensure key uniqueness, choose appropriate data structures for performance and memory, support for serialization to JSON, XML, or other formats, and handling of naming conventions and case sensitivity.

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