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A ''map'' is a function that associates a set of keys with values, resulting in a collection of key/value pairs. Each key/value pair in a map is called an entry. A key is an arbitrary atomic value, and the associated value is an arbitrary sequence. Within a map, no two entries have the same key, when compared using the {{Code|eq}} operator. It is not necessary that all the keys should be mutually comparable (for example, they can include a mixture of integers and strings).

The function corresponding to the map has the signature {{Code|function($key as xs:anyAtomicType) as item()*}}. The expression {{Code|$map($key)}} returns the associated value; the function call {{Code|map:get($map, $key)}} is equivalent. For example, if {{Code|$books-by-isbn}} is a map whose keys are ISBNs and whose associated values are {{Code|book}} elements, then the expression {{Code|$books-by-isbn("0470192747")}} returns the {{Code|book}} element with the given ISBN. The fact that a map is a function item allows it to be passed as an argument to higher-order functions that expect a function item as one of their arguments. As an example, the following query uses the higher-order function {{Code|fn:map($f, $seq)}} to extract all bound values from a map: