How to Iterate through an ArrayList within a HashMap using JSTL?

Looping through an ArrayList within a HashMap using JSTL

Many applications require working with complex data structures such as HashMaps containing ArrayLists. Iterating over such structures effectively is essential for data manipulation and display. JSTL provides a powerful tag library that simplifies this task.

Understanding JSTL Iteration

JSTL's tag allows iteration over various data structures, including arrays, collections, and maps. When iterating over maps, it returns a Map.Entry object in each iteration, which includes the key and value. To access the ArrayList within the value, further iteration is necessary.

Iterating the HashMap and ArrayList

In your specific case, you need to iterate over the LinkedHashMap> to access the ArrayLists. Here's how you can do it using JSTL:

<code class="html"><%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %>

<c:forEach items="${myMap}" var="entry">
    <c:forEach items="${entry.value}" var="item">
        <!-- Process each item in the ArrayList -->
    </c:forEach>
</c:forEach></code>

Understanding the Code

The outer iterates over the HashMap, giving you access to each key and its corresponding ArrayList