What is a Hashtable/Hashmap?

A hashtable is a data structure that with a collection f key-value pairs, where each key maps to a value, and the keys must be unique and hashable.

  • In Python there is a built in hashtable known as a dictionary.

The primary purpose of a hashtable is to provide efficient lookup, insertion, and deletion operations. When an element is to be inserted into the hashtable, a hash function is used to map the key to a specific index in the underlying array that is used to store the key-value pairs. The value is then stored at that index. When searching for a value, the hash function is used again to find the index where the value is stored.

The key advantage of a hashtable over other data structures like arrays and linked lists is its average-case time complexity for lookup, insertion, and deletion operations.

  • The typical time complexity of a hashtable is constant.

What is Hashing and Collision?

Hashing is the process of mapping a given key to a value in a hash table or hashmap, using a hash function. The hash function takes the key as input and produces a hash value or hash code, which is then used to determine the index in the underlying array where the value is stored. The purpose of hashing is to provide a quick and efficient way to access data, by eliminating the need to search through an entire data structure to find a value.

However, it is possible for two different keys to map to the same hash value, resulting in a collision. When a collision occurs, there are different ways to resolve it, depending on the collision resolution strategy used.

Python's dictionary implementation is optimized to handle collisions efficiently, and the performance of the dictionary is generally very good, even in the presence of collisions. However, if the number of collisions is very high, the performance of the dictionary can degrade, so it is important to choose a good hash function that minimizes collisions when designing a Python dictionary.

What is a Set?

my_set = set([1, 2, 3, 2, 1])
print(my_set)  

# What do you notice in the output?
# they have curly brackets
#

# Why do you think Sets are in the same tech talk as Hashmaps/Hashtables?
#
#
{1, 2, 3}

Dictionary Example

Below are just some basic features of a dictionary. As always, documentation is always the main source for all the full capablilties.

lover_album = {
    "title": "Lover",
    "artist": "Taylor Swift",
    "year": 2019,
    "genre": ["Pop", "Synth-pop"],
    "tracks": {
        1: "I Forgot That You Existed",
        2: "Cruel Summer",
        3: "Lover",
        4: "The Man",
        5: "The Archer",
        6: "I Think He Knows",
        7: "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince",
        8: "Paper Rings",
        9: "Cornelia Street",
        10: "Death By A Thousand Cuts",
        11: "London Boy",
        12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)",
        13: "False God",
        14: "You Need To Calm Down",
        15: "Afterglow",
        16: "Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)",
        17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend",
        18: "Daylight"
    }
}

# What data structures do you see?
#
#

# Printing the dictionary
print(lover_album)
{'title': 'Lover', 'artist': 'Taylor Swift', 'year': 2019, 'genre': ['Pop', 'Synth-pop'], 'tracks': {1: 'I Forgot That You Existed', 2: 'Cruel Summer', 3: 'Lover', 4: 'The Man', 5: 'The Archer', 6: 'I Think He Knows', 7: 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince', 8: 'Paper Rings', 9: 'Cornelia Street', 10: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts', 11: 'London Boy', 12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)", 13: 'False God', 14: 'You Need To Calm Down', 15: 'Afterglow', 16: 'Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)', 17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend", 18: 'Daylight'}}
print(lover_album.get('tracks'))
# or
print(lover_album['tracks'])
{1: 'I Forgot That You Existed', 2: 'Cruel Summer', 3: 'Lover', 4: 'The Man', 5: 'The Archer', 6: 'I Think He Knows', 7: 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince', 8: 'Paper Rings', 9: 'Cornelia Street', 10: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts', 11: 'London Boy', 12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)", 13: 'False God', 14: 'You Need To Calm Down', 15: 'Afterglow', 16: 'Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)', 17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend", 18: 'Daylight'}
{1: 'I Forgot That You Existed', 2: 'Cruel Summer', 3: 'Lover', 4: 'The Man', 5: 'The Archer', 6: 'I Think He Knows', 7: 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince', 8: 'Paper Rings', 9: 'Cornelia Street', 10: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts', 11: 'London Boy', 12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)", 13: 'False God', 14: 'You Need To Calm Down', 15: 'Afterglow', 16: 'Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)', 17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend", 18: 'Daylight'}
print(lover_album.get('tracks')[4])
# or
print(lover_album['tracks'][4])
The Man
The Man
lover_album["producer"] = set(['Taylor Swift', 'Jack Antonoff', 'Joel Little', 'Taylor Swift', 'Louis Bell', 'Frank Dukes'])

# What can you change to make sure there are no duplicate producers?
#
#

# Printing the dictionary
print(lover_album)
{'title': 'Lover', 'artist': 'Taylor Swift', 'year': 2019, 'genre': ['Pop', 'Synth-pop'], 'tracks': {1: 'I Forgot That You Existed', 2: 'Cruel Summer', 3: 'Lover', 4: 'The Man', 5: 'The Archer', 6: 'I Think He Knows', 7: 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince', 8: 'Paper Rings', 9: 'Cornelia Street', 10: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts', 11: 'London Boy', 12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)", 13: 'False God', 14: 'You Need To Calm Down', 15: 'Afterglow', 16: 'Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)', 17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend", 18: 'Daylight'}, 'producer': {'Louis Bell', 'Joel Little', 'Jack Antonoff', 'Taylor Swift', 'Frank Dukes'}}
lover_album["tracks"].update({19: "All Of The Girls You Loved Before"})

# How would add an additional genre to the dictionary, like electropop? 
# 
# 

# Printing the dictionary
print(lover_album)
{'title': 'Lover', 'artist': 'Taylor Swift', 'year': 2019, 'genre': ['Pop', 'Synth-pop'], 'tracks': {1: 'I Forgot That You Existed', 2: 'Cruel Summer', 3: 'Lover', 4: 'The Man', 5: 'The Archer', 6: 'I Think He Knows', 7: 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince', 8: 'Paper Rings', 9: 'Cornelia Street', 10: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts', 11: 'London Boy', 12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)", 13: 'False God', 14: 'You Need To Calm Down', 15: 'Afterglow', 16: 'Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)', 17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend", 18: 'Daylight', 19: 'All Of The Girls You Loved Before'}, 'producer': {'Louis Bell', 'Joel Little', 'Jack Antonoff', 'Taylor Swift', 'Frank Dukes'}}
for k,v in lover_album.items(): # iterate using a for loop for key and value
    print(str(k) + ": " + str(v))

# Write your own code to print tracks in readable format
#
#
title: Lover
artist: Taylor Swift
year: 2019
genre: ['Pop', 'Synth-pop']
tracks: {1: 'I Forgot That You Existed', 2: 'Cruel Summer', 3: 'Lover', 4: 'The Man', 5: 'The Archer', 6: 'I Think He Knows', 7: 'Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince', 8: 'Paper Rings', 9: 'Cornelia Street', 10: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts', 11: 'London Boy', 12: "Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)", 13: 'False God', 14: 'You Need To Calm Down', 15: 'Afterglow', 16: 'Me! (feat. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco)', 17: "It's Nice To Have A Friend", 18: 'Daylight', 19: 'All Of The Girls You Loved Before'}
producer: {'Louis Bell', 'Joel Little', 'Jack Antonoff', 'Taylor Swift', 'Frank Dukes'}
def search():
    search = input("What would you like to know about the album?")
    if lover_album.get(search.lower()) == None:
        print("Invalid Search")
    else:
        print(lover_album.get(search.lower()))

search()

# This is a very basic code segment, how can you improve upon this code?
#
#
Taylor Swift

Hacks

  • Answer ALL questions in the code segments
  • Create a diagram or comparison illustration (Canva).
    • What are the pro and cons of using this data structure?
    • Dictionary vs List
  • Expand upon the code given to you, possible improvements in comments
  • Build your own album showing features of a python dictionary

  • For Mr. Yeung's class: Justify your favorite Taylor Swift song, answer may effect seed

List VS Dictionary

mixtape = {
    "title": "Thriller",
    "artist": "Michael Jackson",
    "year": 1982,
    "genre": ["Pop", "Post-Disco", "Funk"],
    "tracks": {
        1: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'",
        2: "Baby Be Mine",
        3: "The Girl Is Mine",
        4: "Thriller",
        5: "Beat It",
        6: "Billie Jean",
        7: "Human Nature",
        8: "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)",
        9: "The Lady in My Life"
}
}
print(mixtape)
{'title': 'Thriller', 'artist': 'Michael Jackson', 'year': 1982, 'genre': ['Pop', 'Post-Disco', 'Funk'], 'tracks': {1: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", 2: 'Baby Be Mine', 3: 'The Girl Is Mine', 4: 'Thriller', 5: 'Beat It', 6: 'Billie Jean', 7: 'Human Nature', 8: 'P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)', 9: 'The Lady in My Life'}}
print(mixtape.get('tracks')[4])


print(mixtape['tracks'][4])
Thriller
Thriller
mixtape["producer"] = set(['Micheal Jackson'])

# Printing the dictionary
print(mixtape)

# Printing the producer set
print(mixtape["producer"])
{'title': 'Thriller', 'artist': 'Michael Jackson', 'year': 1982, 'genre': ['Pop', 'Post-Disco', 'Funk'], 'tracks': {1: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", 2: 'Baby Be Mine', 3: 'The Girl Is Mine', 4: 'Thriller', 5: 'Beat It', 6: 'Billie Jean', 7: 'Human Nature', 8: 'P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)', 9: 'The Lady in My Life'}, 'producer': {'Micheal Jackson'}}
{'Micheal Jackson'}
mixtape["genre"].append("Pop")
print(f"Title: {mixtape['title']}")
print(f"Artist: {mixtape['artist']}")
print('Producer(s):')
for prod in mixtape['producer']:
    print(f"-- {prod}")
print(f"Year: {mixtape['year']}")
print("Genres:")
for genre in mixtape['genre']:
    print(f"-- {genre}")
print("Tracks:")
for track_number, track_title in mixtape['tracks'].items():
    print(f"{track_number}. {track_title}")
Title: Thriller
Artist: Michael Jackson
Producer(s):
-- Micheal Jackson
Year: 1982
Genres:
-- Pop
-- Post-Disco
-- Funk
-- Pop
Tracks:
1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2. Baby Be Mine
3. The Girl Is Mine
4. Thriller
5. Beat It
6. Billie Jean
7. Human Nature
8. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
9. The Lady in My Life
options = []

for k,v in mixtape.items(): # iterate using a for loop for key and value
    options.append(str(k.lower()))

# Define the menu function
def menu():
    # Display the menu options
    print('\n Select an option from the list below:')
    for option in options:
        print(option)

    # Get the user's choice
    search = input("What would you like to know about the album from the list of properties shown? Type the full word or press enter to exit.").lower()

    # Find the selected option in the options list
    selected_option = None
    for option in options:
        if search == str(option):
            selected_option = str(option)
            break
    

    if selected_option == "title":
        print(f'\n Title: {mixtape[options[0]]} \n')
    elif selected_option == "artist":
        print(f'\n Artist: {mixtape[options[1]]} \n')
    elif selected_option == "year":
        print(f'\n Year: {mixtape[options[2]]} \n')
    elif selected_option == "genre":
        print("\n Genre(s):")
        for g in Mixtape['genre']:
            print(f"- {g}")
    elif selected_option == "tracks":
        print("\n Tracks:")
        for track_number, track_title in mixtape['tracks'].items():
            print(f"{track_number}) {track_title}")
    elif selected_option == "producer":
        print("\n Producer(s):")
        for p in mixtape['producer']:
            print(f"- {p}")
    elif search == "":
        return
    else:
        print("\n Property not found. Please try again. \n")

    # Repeat the menu
    menu()

menu()
 Select an option from the list below:
title
artist
year
genre
tracks
producer

 Artist: Michael Jackson 


 Select an option from the list below:
title
artist
year
genre
tracks
producer

 Year: 1982 


 Select an option from the list below:
title
artist
year
genre
tracks
producer

 Producer(s):
- Micheal Jackson

 Select an option from the list below:
title
artist
year
genre
tracks
producer
import datetime

tasks = {}

def add_task(task_name, due_date):
    due_date_obj = datetime.datetime.strptime(due_date, '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
    tasks[task_name] = {'due_date': due_date_obj, 'completed': False}
    print(f"Task '{task_name}' added with due date {due_date}.")

def complete_task(task_name):
    if task_name in tasks:
        tasks[task_name]['completed'] = True
        print(f"Task '{task_name}' marked as completed.")
    else:
        print(f"Task '{task_name}' not found.")

def print_due_tasks():
    today = datetime.datetime.today()
    print("Tasks due today or earlier:")
    for task_name, task_details in tasks.items():
        if task_details['due_date'] <= today and not task_details['completed']:
            print(f"- {task_name} (due {task_details['due_date']})")

add_task('Complete project', '2023-04-05 23:59:59')
add_task('Buy groceries', '2023-04-02 12:00:00')
add_task('Call mom', '2023-04-03 09:00:00')
complete_task('Buy groceries')
print_due_tasks()
Task 'Complete project' added with due date 2023-04-05 23:59:59.
Task 'Buy groceries' added with due date 2023-04-02 12:00:00.
Task 'Call mom' added with due date 2023-04-03 09:00:00.
Task 'Buy groceries' marked as completed.
Tasks due today or earlier: