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I am trying to access the last element of a bash associative array using the below code: # Declare an associative array declare -A myAssocArray

# Add key-value pairs to the associative array
myAssocArray["name"]="John"
myAssocArray["age"]=30
myAssocArray["city"]="New York"
myAssocArray["country"]="USA"

keys=("${!myAssocArray[@]}")  # Get all keys
last_key="${keys[-1]}"        # Access the last key
last_element="${myAssocArray[$last_key]}"  # Access the last elemen
echo "$last_element"

it outputs: john instead of USA actually I am trying to seek if any method is available like negative indices for last element access in assoc. arrays

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  • 6
    The keys in an associative array are not ordered. There is no concept of "first" and "last". They are delivered in essentially random order. Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 6:19
  • 2
    So don't use associative array, but simple array with numeric keys Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 6:19
  • Thank you all for assistance. I understand the issue now Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 6:22
  • 1
    in some situations, you could maintain a helper indexed array - whenever you insert a hash key for the first time, append the key as a value in the helper. Then you can access the "last" element of the hash (the one most recently added) by dereferencing through the helper. eg: ${hash["${helper[-1]}"]} Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 17:29
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