---
title: "Map"
---
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# Map

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{{< button-pydoc path="apache_beam.transforms.core" class="Map" >}}

Applies a simple 1-to-1 mapping function over each element in the collection.

## Examples

In the following examples, we create a pipeline with a `PCollection` of produce with their icon, name, and duration.
Then, we apply `Map` in multiple ways to transform every element in the `PCollection`.

`Map` accepts a function that returns a single element for every input element in the `PCollection`.

### Example 1: Map with a predefined function

We use the function `str.strip` which takes a single `str` element and outputs a `str`.
It strips the input element's whitespaces, including newlines and tabs.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_simple >}}
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Output:
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{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map_test.py" plants >}}
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### Example 2: Map with a function

We define a function `strip_header_and_newline` which strips any `'#'`, `' '`, and `'\n'` characters from each element.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_function >}}
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Output:
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{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map_test.py" plants >}}
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### Example 3: Map with a lambda function

We can also use lambda functions to simplify **Example 2**.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_lambda >}}
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Output:
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{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map_test.py" plants >}}
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### Example 4: Map with multiple arguments

You can pass functions with multiple arguments to `Map`.
They are passed as additional positional arguments or keyword arguments to the function.

In this example, `strip` takes `text` and `chars` as arguments.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_multiple_arguments >}}
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Output:
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### Example 5: MapTuple for key-value pairs

If your `PCollection` consists of `(key, value)` pairs,
you can use `MapTuple` to unpack them into different function arguments.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_tuple >}}
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{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map_test.py" plants >}}
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### Example 6: Map with side inputs as singletons

If the `PCollection` has a single value, such as the average from another computation,
passing the `PCollection` as a *singleton* accesses that value.

In this example, we pass a `PCollection` the value `'# \n'` as a singleton.
We then use that value as the characters for the `str.strip` method.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_side_inputs_singleton >}}
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Output:
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{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map_test.py" plants >}}
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### Example 7: Map with side inputs as iterators

If the `PCollection` has multiple values, pass the `PCollection` as an *iterator*.
This accesses elements lazily as they are needed,
so it is possible to iterate over large `PCollection`s that won't fit into memory.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_side_inputs_iter >}}
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Output:
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> **Note**: You can pass the `PCollection` as a *list* with `beam.pvalue.AsList(pcollection)`,
> but this requires that all the elements fit into memory.

### Example 8: Map with side inputs as dictionaries

If a `PCollection` is small enough to fit into memory, then that `PCollection` can be passed as a *dictionary*.
Each element must be a `(key, value)` pair.
Note that all the elements of the `PCollection` must fit into memory for this.
If the `PCollection` won't fit into memory, use `beam.pvalue.AsIter(pcollection)` instead.

{{< highlight language="py" file="sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py"
  notebook="examples/notebooks/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/map" >}}
{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map.py" map_side_inputs_dict >}}
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Output:
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{{< code_sample "sdks/python/apache_beam/examples/snippets/transforms/elementwise/map_test.py" plant_details >}}
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## Related transforms

* [FlatMap](/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/flatmap) behaves the same as `Map`, but for
  each input it may produce zero or more outputs.
* [Filter](/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/filter) is useful if the function is just
  deciding whether to output an element or not.
* [ParDo](/documentation/transforms/python/elementwise/pardo) is the most general elementwise mapping
  operation, and includes other abilities such as multiple output collections and side-inputs.

{{< button-pydoc path="apache_beam.transforms.core" class="Map" >}}
