In terms of Java, both the class HashMap
and the class Dictionary
are implementations of the “Map” abstract data type. Abstract data types are not specific to any one programming language, and the Map ADT can also be known as a Hash, or a Dictionary, or an Associative Array (others at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associative_array). (Notice we’re making a distinction between the Dictionary
class and the Dictionary ADT.)
The Dictionary
class has been marked as obsolete, so it’s best not to use it.