// Cannot / Do not need to instantiate the algorithm implementation (e.g, HashMap). Map strMap = new Map(); strMap.put('a', 'aval'); strMap.put('b', 'bval'); System.assert( strMap.containsKey('a') ); System.assertEquals( 'bval', strMap.get('b') ); // String keys are case-sensitive System.assert( !strMap.containsKey('A') );