Map unique strings to integers in Python [duplicate]

Answer 1

You'd use a hashmap in Python, too, but we call it a dict.

>>> L = ['apple','bat','apple','car','pet','bat']
>>> idx = 1
>>> seen_first = {}
>>>
>>> for word in L:
...     if word not in seen_first:
...         seen_first[word] = idx
...         idx += 1
... 
>>> [seen_first[word] for word in L]
[1, 2, 1, 3, 4, 2]