from collections import Dict

# Initialize a new dictionary with string keys and integer values
var d = Dict[String, Int]()

# Add entries to the dictionary
d["a"] = 1
d["b"] = 2

# Access and remove entries
print(d["a"])      # Access an entry, prints 1
print(d.pop("b"))  # Remove and return an entry, prints 2
print(len(d))      # Get the number of entries, prints 1

Overview

The Dict API provides a collection for storing and managing key-value pairs with efficient operations. It is designed to mirror Python's dict implementation, with performance optimizations for both small and large datasets. It maintains the order of insertion for iteration purposes, ensuring a deterministic order over keys, values, and items.

Key Features

• Efficient Operations: Offers O(1) amortized average-time complexity for insert, lookup, and removal operations.
• Order Preservation: Maintains insertion order, allowing for deterministic iteration.
• Type Requirements: Keys must implement the KeyElement trait, ensuring they are movable, hashable, and equality comparable. Values must be CollectionElements.
• Compatibility: Tailored for use in environments that statically require the specification of key and value types.

Use Cases

• Data Storage: Ideal for storing and retrieving data where each piece of data is uniquely identified by a key.
• Caching Mechanisms: Can be used to implement caching systems where quick retrieval of information based on unique identifiers is crucial.
• Settings or Configuration: Suitable for holding configuration settings where each setting has a unique key.

Considerations

• Type Restrictions: Keys and values must conform to specific traits, potentially limiting the use of arbitrary types without adherence to these traits.
• Order Maintenance: While the order of entries is preserved, this feature might introduce overhead, especially in scenarios where order is irrelevant.

Compatibility

This Dict API is designed with compatibility in mind for systems or environments that support static typing and require explicit type declarations for collections. Its design and functionalities are inspired by Python's dictionary but adapted to environments with stricter type requirements.