为什么HashTable键值key、value不能为null值，而HashMap可以

HashTable源代码：

/**
 * Maps the specified key to the specified
 * value in this hashtable. Neither the key nor the
 * value can be null. 

 *
 * The value can be retrieved by calling the get method
 * with a key that is equal to the original key.
 *
 * @param      key     the hashtable key
 * @param      value   the value
 * @return     the previous value of the specified key in this hashtable,
 *             or null if it did not have one
 * @exception  NullPointerException  if the key or value is
 *               null
 * @see     Object#equals(Object)
 * @see     #get(Object)
 */
public synchronized V put(K key, V value) {
    // Make sure the value is not null
    if (value == null) {
        throw new NullPointerException();
    }

    // Makes sure the key is not already in the hashtable.
    Entry tab[] = table;
    int hash = key.hashCode();
    int index = (hash & 0x7FFFFFFF) % tab.length;
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    Entry entry = (Entry)tab[index];
    for(; entry != null ; entry = entry.next) {
        if ((entry.hash == hash) && entry.key.equals(key)) {
            V old = entry.value;
            entry.value = value;
            return old;
        }
    }

    addEntry(hash, key, value, index);
    return null;
}

从HashTable源代码put方法可以看出，首先会对put方法中的值value进行null值判断，为null抛出空指针异常；然后会对key值进行Object类的hashCode方法计算hash值，为null值也会抛出空指针异常，故不能在HashTable键、值中放入null值。

 

HashMap源代码：

/**
 * Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map.
 * If the map previously contained a mapping for the key, the old
 * value is replaced.
 *
 * @param key key with which the specified value is to be associated
 * @param value value to be associated with the specified key
 * @return the previous value associated with key, or
 *         null if there was no mapping for key.
 *         (A null return can also indicate that the map
 *         previously associated null with key.)
 */
public V put(K key, V value) {
    return putVal(hash(key), key, value, false, true);
}

/**
 * Implements Map.put and related methods
 *
 * @param hash hash for key
 * @param key the key
 * @param value the value to put
 * @param onlyIfAbsent if true, don't change existing value
 * @param evict if false, the table is in creation mode.
 * @return previous value, or null if none
 */
final V putVal(int hash, K key, V value, boolean onlyIfAbsent,
               boolean evict) {
    Node[] tab; Node p; int n, i;
    if ((tab = table) == null || (n = tab.length) == 0)
        n = (tab = resize()).length;
    if ((p = tab[i = (n - 1) & hash]) == null)
        tab[i] = newNode(hash, key, value, null);
    else {
        Node e; K k;
        if (p.hash == hash &&
            ((k = p.key) == key || (key != null && key.equals(k))))
            e = p;
        else if (p instanceof TreeNode)
            e = ((TreeNode)p).putTreeVal(this, tab, hash, key, value);
        else {
            for (int binCount = 0; ; ++binCount) {
                if ((e = p.next) == null) {
                    p.next = newNode(hash, key, value, null);
                    if (binCount >= TREEIFY_THRESHOLD - 1) // -1 for 1st
                        treeifyBin(tab, hash);
                    break;
                }
                if (e.hash == hash &&
                    ((k = e.key) == key || (key != null && key.equals(k))))
                    break;
                p = e;
            }
        }
        if (e != null) { // existing mapping for key
            V oldValue = e.value;
            if (!onlyIfAbsent || oldValue == null)
                e.value = value;
            afterNodeAccess(e);
            return oldValue;
        }
    }
    ++modCount;
    if (++size > threshold)
        resize();
    afterNodeInsertion(evict);
    return null;
}

static final int hash(Object key) {
    int h;
    return (key == null) ? 0 : (h = key.hashCode()) ^ (h >>> 16);
}

从以上HashMap源代码可以看出：HashMap在调用put方法时，其实是调用了putVal方法，而该方法的第一个参数hash值的获取是通过HashMap中自定义的hash方法得到，hash方法中明确指出当key值为null时返回hash值为0，并不会报错，且putVal方法中也没有对value值进行任何约束，故HashMap中的键值都能存放null值。