Which structure to use

Hi all

I want to keep a list of objects that relate to other objects. For example, furniture, where a kitchen table might relate to a tablecloth, but a kitchen table might also relate to chairs. Chairs might also relate to a desk, as well as to a garden table.

Each object name might have multiple entries:

table <-> Chair
table <-> Table Cloth
table <-> coaster
coaster <-> coffee table
etc
​

I can't use a dictionary as you can't have keys with the same value in there. What other efficient ways are there of storing that type of structure such that searching isn't terrible?

I thought about using a class called Relationship with two public variables (perhaps Key and Value), and then creating a list of Relationships.

Any other ways I've missed?

Olly

 

How about a simple tree-like structure. Allow each

class Furniture

to have its own

List<Furniture>

.

 

A common trick is to start with something simple. like a list, but accessed through functions, and then change it later as you see more of what you need. If you never have more than 10 or 20 things you relate to, a list is fine (maybe keep it sorted?). If you often go through everything you relate to, a list is best, and so on.,

By functions, I means

bool relatesTo(item N) { return myRelations.contains(N); }

. If you decide you need a Dictionary, the inside changes to myRelations[N]!=null, but the users keep using table.relatesTo(chair), same as always. That's one of the reasons OOP programming was invented -- you can just make it work, then easily adjust the details later.