What is the purpose of Hashtable in Java?

In Java, Hashtable is a data structure based on a hash table, used for storing key-value pairs. Its main purposes include:

1. Storing data: Hashtables can be used to store key-value pairs, allowing us to quickly locate and access the corresponding value based on a specific key.
2. Avoiding duplicates: The keys in a Hashtable are unique, meaning the same key can only correspond to one value. This helps prevent duplicate key-value pairs and ensures the uniqueness of data.
3. Thread safety: Hashtable is thread-safe, allowing multiple threads to read and write to it simultaneously without causing data inconsistency.
4. Hash lookup: Hashtable uses a hash table to store data, allowing for fast search, insert, and delete operations with a time complexity of O(1).

In general, Hashtable is a data structure used to store key-value pairs and provide fast retrieval, making it suitable for scenarios requiring efficient storage and data retrieval.