Is there a dictionary which accepts values of various data types?

Question

I need a map where the values are of different types, like integer, string etc. The problem with Java is that primitives here are not Objects which suggests that it may not be possible to have a hybrid dictionary. I want to confirm this.

Answer 1

It sounds like you just want a Map<String, Object> (or whatever your key type is).

Primitive values will be boxed appropriately:

Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap<String, Object>();

map.put("int", 20);
map.put("long", 100L);
// etc

Note that in order to retrieve the value and unbox it, you have to mention the specific wrapper type:

// Explicit unboxing
int x = (int) (Integer) map.get("int");
// Implicit unboxing
int y = (Integer) map.get("int");
// USing a method from Number instead
int z = ((Integer) map.get("int")).intValue();