variablesmap

A variablesmap is a data structure that stores associations between variable names and their corresponding values. It provides a mapping from identifiers, typically strings, to values of varying types. This concept is central to many areas of computing, including programming languages, configuration systems, and templating engines.

A variablesmap typically supports basic operations such as inserting or updating a variable (put or assign), retrieving a value by name (get or lookup), checking for the existence of a variable (contains), removing variables, and querying the number of mappings. Depending on the implementation, it may also provide iterators over keys, values, or entries, as well as methods for merging maps, clearing all entries, or cloning the map. Implementations may preserve insertion order or use hash-based or tree-based structures, influencing performance and iteration order.

Common use cases include symbol tables in compilers and interpreters, where variable names are bound to values or types; configuration management, where a variablesmap holds settings for different contexts or environments; environment or context maps in runtime systems and templates, enabling variable substitution and dynamic content generation. In multi-scope languages, separate maps or nested maps may model local and global bindings, with rules for shadowing or fallback.

Implementation considerations include mutability versus immutability, type systems and value polymorphism, error handling for undefined keys, and thread-safety in concurrent environments. Efficiency of lookups and updates, memory usage, and the choice between hash-based versus ordered maps are common design factors. Related concepts include dictionaries, associative arrays, and hash maps.