
 
In F#, a map is a special kind of set that associates the values with key. A map is created in a similar way as sets are created.
Maps are created by creating an empty map using Map.empty and adding items using the Add function. The following example demonstrates this −
(* Create an empty Map *)
let students =
   Map.empty. (* Creating an empty Map *)
      Add("Zara Ali", "1501").
      Add("Rishita Gupta", "1502").
      Add("Robin Sahoo", "1503").
      Add("Gillian Megan", "1504");;
printfn "Map - students: %A" students
(* Convert a list to Map *)
let capitals =
   [ "Argentina", "Buenos Aires";
      "France ", "Paris";
      "Chili", "Santiago";
      "Malaysia", " Kuala Lumpur";
      "Switzerland", "Bern" ]
   |> Map.ofList;;
printfn "Map capitals : %A" capitals
When you compile and execute the program, it yields the following output −
Map - students: map
[("Gillian Megan", "1504"); ("Rishita Gupta", "1502"); ("Robin Sahoo", "1503
");
("Zara Ali", "1501")]
Map capitals : map
[("Argentina", "Buenos Aires"); ("Chili", "Santiago"); ("France ", "Paris");
("Malaysia", " Kuala Lumpur"); ("Switzerland", "Bern")]
You can access individual elements in the map using the key.
(* Create an empty Map *)
let students =
   Map.empty. (* Creating an empty Map *)
      Add("Zara Ali", "1501").
      Add("Rishita Gupta", "1502").
      Add("Robin Sahoo", "1503").
      Add("Gillian Megan", "1504");;
printfn "Map - students: %A" students
(*Accessing an element using key *)
printfn "%A" students.["Zara Ali"]
When you compile and execute the program, it yields the following output −
Map - students: map
[("Gillian Megan", "1504"); ("Rishita Gupta", "1502"); ("Robin Sahoo", "1503
");
("Zara Ali", "1501")]
"1501"
The following table shows the basic operations on maps −
| Member | Description | 
|---|---|
| Add | Returns a new map with the binding added to the given map. | 
| ContainsKey | Tests if an element is in the domain of the map. | 
| Count | The number of bindings in the map. | 
| IsEmpty | Returns true if there are no bindings in the map. | 
| Item | Lookup an element in the map. Raises KeyNotFoundException if no binding exists in the map. | 
| Remove | Removes an element from the domain of the map. No exception is raised if the element is not present. | 
| TryFind | Lookup an element in the map, returning a Some value if the element is in the domain of the map and None if not. | 
The following example demonstrates the uses of some of the above functionalities −
(* Create an empty Map *)
let students =
   Map.empty. (* Creating an empty Map *)
      Add("Zara Ali", "1501").
      Add("Rishita Gupta", "1502").
      Add("Robin Sahoo", "1503").
      Add("Gillian Megan", "1504").
      Add("Shraddha Dubey", "1505").
      Add("Novonil Sarker", "1506").
      Add("Joan Paul", "1507");;
printfn "Map - students: %A" students
printfn "Map - number of students: %d" students.Count
(* finding the registration number of a student*)
let found = students.TryFind "Rishita Gupta"
match found with
| Some x -> printfn "Found %s." x
| None -> printfn "Did not find the specified value."
When you compile and execute the program, it yields the following output −
Map - students: map
[("Gillian Megan", "1504"); ("Joan Paul", "1507"); ("Novonil Sarker", "1506"
);
("Rishita Gupta", "1502"); ("Robin Sahoo", "1503");
("Shraddha Dubey", "1505"); ("Zara Ali", "1501")]
Map - number of students: 7
Found 1502.