412 APPENDIX B: Introduction to Groovy
Line 1 illustrates how to define a map with multiple entries. When using the
square bracket notation, the colon separates the key from the value.
Lines 2 to 10 show several different techniques for accessing the map.
Lines 11 to 13 show several different techniques for putting items into the map.Value A
Value A
Value A
Value B
Value B
unknown
[a:Value A, b:Value B , c:unknown]
Value D
Value E
Value F
Key: a, Value: Value A
Key: b, Value: Value B
Key: c, Value: unknown
Key: d, Value: Value D
Key: e, Value: Value E
Key: f, Value: Value F
Value A
Value B
unknown
Value D
Value E
Value F
Ranges
A range is a list of sequential values. Logically, you can think of it as 1 through 10 or as a through z.
As a matter of fact, the declaration of a range is exactly that: 1..10 or 'a'.'z'. A range is a list of
any objects that implement java.lang.Comparable. The objects have next() and previous()
methods to facilitate navigating through the range. Listing B-20 illustrates some of the things you
can do with ranges.