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What are key-based accessors in Elixir?
Azeem AshrafOverview
In Elixir, there are three types of key-value constructs:
- Keyword lists: This is a list of key-value pairs where the first element is an atom and the second element is a value. They are written as
[key: value]. - Maps: This is the data structure to store key-value pairs. They are written as
%{key: value}or%{key=> value}. - Structs: This is a pre-determined set of map keys. They are written as
%structname{key: value}.
Key-based accessors
Dynamically accessing keys of an associative data structure like keyword lists or maps is called key-based access. Elixir gives two mechanisms to access data by key:
- Bracket-based access
- Dot-based syntax
Bracket-based access
Bracket-based access is used to access keys in dynamic structures such as maps and keyword lists.
Syntax
The syntax is data[key].
Return value
If the key exists, it returns the corresponding value. Otherwise, it returns _nil_ or nothing.
# Keyword lists
keywords = [x: 5, y: 2, z: 10]
IO.puts "key exists and the value is"
IO.puts keywords[:x]
# Map
map = %{x: 5, y: 2, z: 10}
IO.puts "key exists and the value is"
IO.puts map[:z]Dot-based syntax
Dot-based syntax is limited to accessing structs and atom fields in maps.
Syntax
The syntax is data.value.
Return value
If the key exists, it returns the value. Otherwise, it throws an error.
# Struct
defmodule Emp do
defstruct name: "BOB", age: 37
end
defmodule Main do
def main do
data = %Emp{}
IO.puts "key exists and the value is"
IO.puts data.name
end
end
Main.main
# Map
map = %{x: 5, y: 2, z: 10}
IO.puts "key exists and the value is"
IO.puts map.zRELATED TAGS
elixir
key based
accessors
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Azeem AshrafCopyright ©2022 Educative, Inc. All rights reserved
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