| | | Weak Hash Maps | Contents |
A weak hash map is a special kind of hash map where the garbage collector does not follow links from the map to the keys stored in it. This means that a key and its associated value will disappear from the map if there is no other reference to that key. Weak hash maps are useful for tasks such as caching, where you want to re-use an expensive function's result if the function is called again on the same key. If keys and function results are stored in a regular hash map, the map could grow without bounds, and no key would ever become garbage. Using a weak hash map avoids this problem. As soon as a key object becomes unreachable, it's entry is removed from the weak hashmap. Weak hash maps in Scala are implemented by class WeakHashMap as a wrapper of an underlying Java implementation java.util.WeakHashMap.
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| | | Weak Hash Maps | Contents |