Java Hashtable put() Method (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 22 May, 2025

The Hashtable.put() method is a part of **java.util package. This method isused to insert a mapping into a table. This means we can insert a specific key and the value it maps to into a particular table. If an existing key is passed, then the previous value gets replaced by the new value. If a new pair is passed, then the pair gets inserted as a whole.

Syntax of Hashtable put() Method

Below is the syntax of put() method.

Hash_Table.put(key, value)

**Parameters:

This method takes two parameters, both of the Object type of the Hashtable.

• **key: This refers to the key element that needs to be inserted into the table for mapping.
• **value: This refers to the value that the above key will map to.

**Return Value: If an existing key is passed, the previous value gets returned. If a new pair is passed, then null is returned.

Examples of Java Hashtable put() Method

**Example 1: In this example, we are going to use the put() method when an existing key is passed.

Java `

// Java program to demonstrate Hashtable.put() method import java.util.*;

public class Geeks { public static void main(String[] args) {

    // Create an empty Hashtable
    Hashtable<Integer, String> ht = new Hashtable<Integer, String>();
    
    // Insert values into the Hashtable
    ht.put(10, "Geeks");
    ht.put(15, "4");
    ht.put(20, "Geeks");
    ht.put(25, "Welcomes");
    ht.put(30, "You");
    
    System.out.println("Initial table is: " + ht);
    
    // Insert existing key along with a new value
    String returned = ht.put(20, "All");
    
    // Verify the returned value
    System.out.println("Returned value is: " + returned);
    
    System.out.println("New table is: " + ht);
}

}

`

**Example 2: In this example, let's use the **put() method when a new key is passed and we will see what it prints.

Java `

// Java program to demonstrate Hashtable.put() method import java.util.*;

public class Geeks { public static void main(String[] args) {

    // Create an empty Hashtable
    Hashtable<Integer, String> ht = new Hashtable<Integer, String>();
    
    // Insert values into the Hashtable
    ht.put(10, "Geeks");
    ht.put(15, "4");
    ht.put(20, "Geeks");
    ht.put(25, "Welcomes");
    ht.put(30, "You");
    
    System.out.println("Initial table is: " + ht);
    
    // Insert new key along with a value
    String returned = ht.put(50, "All");
    
    // Verify the returned value
    System.out.println("Returned value is: " + returned);

    System.out.println("New table is: " + ht);
}

}

`

**Important Points:

• The put() method replaces the value if the key is already exists.
• The method returns the previous value associated with the key or it returns null if the key was not present.
• This method works with any combination of data types as the key and value.