In Java, can I declare a HashMap constant?

Yes, it can be a constant. You should declare your HashMap instance as follows: class <class name> { private static final HashMap<Integer, String> tensNumberConversion = new HashMap<>(); static { tensNumberConversion.put(2, “twenty”); tensNumberConversion.put(3, “thirty”); tensNumberConversion.put(4, “forty”); tensNumberConversion.put(5, “fifty”); tensNumberConversion.put(6, “sixty”); tensNumberConversion.put(7, “seventy”); tensNumberConversion.put(8, “eighty”); tensNumberConversion.put(9, “ninety”); } } However, this is only a constant reference. While … Read more

What exactly is a hash in regards to JSON?

A Hash is a sparse array that uses arbitrary strings/objects (depending on the implementation, this varies across programming languages) rather than plain integers as keys. In Javascript, any Object is technically a hash (also referred to as a Dictionary, Associative-Array, etc). Examples: var myObj = {}; // Same as = new Object(); myObj[‘foo’] = ‘bar’; … Read more