Hash Map Grouping Process

Input Array of Words

We start with an array of words that we want to group by anagrams.

Sort Each Word Alphabetically

For each word, we sort its characters alphabetically to create a key.

This way, all anagrams will have the same key.

Sort Each Word Alphabetically

Notice how "eat" and "tea" both produce the same sorted key "aet".

Sort Each Word Alphabetically

The word "tan" gets sorted to "ant", which is a different key.

Sort Each Word Alphabetically

"ate" also sorts to "aet", making it an anagram of "eat" and "tea".

Sort Each Word Alphabetically

"nat" sorts to "ant", matching with "tan".

Sort Each Word Alphabetically

Finally, "bat" sorts to "abt", creating a new key.

Building the Hash Map

We start building our hash map using the sorted keys.

The first entry is "aet" → [ "eat" ]

Building the Hash Map

When we process "tea", we find the key "aet" already exists.

So we add "tea" to the existing list for "aet".

Building the Hash Map

Next, we process "tan" and create a new entry with key "ant".

Building the Hash Map

For "ate", we add it to the existing list for key "aet".

Building the Hash Map

For "nat", we add it to the existing list for key "ant".

Final Hash Map

Finally, we add "bat" with its key "abt" to complete our hash map.

Result: Grouped Anagrams

The values from our hash map give us the grouped anagrams!

Each group contains words that are anagrams of each other.