functional programming - Scala: How to create a Map[K,V] from a Set[K] and a function from K to V?

Question

What is the best way to create a Map[K,V] from a Set[K] and function from K to V?

For example, suppose I have

scala> val s = Set(2, 3, 5)
s: scala.collection.immutable.Set[Int] = Set(2, 3, 5)

and

scala> def func(i: Int) = "" + i + i
func: (i: Int)java.lang.String

What is the easiest way of creating a Map[Int, String](2 -> "22", 3 -> "33", 5 -> "55")

Answer 1

You can use foldLeft:

val func2 = (r: Map[Int,String], i: Int) => r + (i -> func(i))
s.foldLeft(Map.empty[Int,String])(func2)

This will perform better than Jesper's solution, because foldLeft constructs the Map in one pass. Jesper's code creates an intermediate data structure first, which then needs to be converted to the final Map.

Update: I wrote a micro benchmark testing the speed of each of the answers:

Jesper (original): 35s 738ms
Jesper (improved): 11s 618ms
           dbyrne: 11s 906ms
         Rex Kerr: 12s 206ms
          Eastsun: 11s 988ms

Looks like they are all pretty much the same as long as you avoid constructing an intermediate data structure.