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-rw-r--r--lib/pure/collections/tables.nim2699
1 files changed, 2047 insertions, 652 deletions
diff --git a/lib/pure/collections/tables.nim b/lib/pure/collections/tables.nim
index f46a368b1..84ec422d4 100644
--- a/lib/pure/collections/tables.nim
+++ b/lib/pure/collections/tables.nim
@@ -9,16 +9,21 @@
 
 ## The ``tables`` module implements variants of an efficient `hash table`:idx:
 ## (also often named `dictionary`:idx: in other programming languages) that is
-## a mapping from keys to values. ``Table`` is the usual hash table,
-## ``OrderedTable`` is like ``Table`` but remembers insertion order
-## and ``CountTable`` is a mapping from a key to its number of occurrences.
+## a mapping from keys to values.
+##
+## There are several different types of hash tables available:
+## * `Table<#Table>`_ is the usual hash table,
+## * `OrderedTable<#OrderedTable>`_ is like ``Table`` but remembers insertion order,
+## * `CountTable<#CountTable>`_ is a mapping from a key to its number of occurrences
 ##
 ## For consistency with every other data type in Nim these have **value**
 ## semantics, this means that ``=`` performs a copy of the hash table.
-## For **reference** semantics use the ``Ref`` variant: ``TableRef``,
-## ``OrderedTableRef``, ``CountTableRef``.
 ##
-## To give an example, when ``a`` is a Table, then ``var b = a`` gives ``b``
+## For `ref semantics<manual.html#types-ref-and-pointer-types>`_
+## use their ``Ref`` variants: `TableRef<#TableRef>`_,
+## `OrderedTableRef<#OrderedTableRef>`_, and `CountTableRef<#CountTableRef>`_.
+##
+## To give an example, when ``a`` is a ``Table``, then ``var b = a`` gives ``b``
 ## as a new independent table. ``b`` is initialised with the contents of ``a``.
 ## Changing ``b`` does not affect ``a`` and vice versa:
 ##
@@ -35,8 +40,8 @@
 ##   echo a, b  # output: {1: one, 2: two}{1: one, 2: two, 3: three}
 ##   echo a == b  # output: false
 ##
-## On the other hand, when ``a`` is a TableRef instead, then changes to ``b``
-## also affect ``a``. Both ``a`` and ``b`` reference the same data structure:
+## On the other hand, when ``a`` is a ``TableRef`` instead, then changes to ``b``
+## also affect ``a``. Both ``a`` and ``b`` **ref** the same data structure:
 ##
 ## .. code-block::
 ##   import tables
@@ -51,27 +56,111 @@
 ##   echo a, b  # output: {1: one, 2: two, 3: three}{1: one, 2: two, 3: three}
 ##   echo a == b  # output: true
 ##
+## ----
+##
+## Basic usage
+## ===========
+##
+## Table
+## -----
+##
+## .. code-block::
+##   import tables
+##   from sequtils import zip
+##
+##   let
+##     names = ["John", "Paul", "George", "Ringo"]
+##     years = [1940, 1942, 1943, 1940]
+##
+##   var beatles = initTable[string, int]()
+##
+##   for pairs in zip(names, years):
+##     let (name, birthYear) = pairs
+##     beatles[name] = birthYear
+##
+##   echo beatles
+##   # {"George": 1943, "Ringo": 1940, "Paul": 1942, "John": 1940}
+##
+##
+##   var beatlesByYear = initTable[int, seq[string]]()
+##
+##   for pairs in zip(years, names):
+##     let (birthYear, name) = pairs
+##     if not beatlesByYear.hasKey(birthYear):
+##       # if a key doesn't exists, we create one with an empty sequence
+##       # before we can add elements to it
+##       beatlesByYear[birthYear] = @[]
+##     beatlesByYear[birthYear].add(name)
+##
+##   echo beatlesByYear
+##   # {1940: @["John", "Ringo"], 1942: @["Paul"], 1943: @["George"]}
+##
+##
 ##
-## Here is an example of ``CountTable`` usage:
+## OrderedTable
+## ------------
+##
+## `OrderedTable<#OrderedTable>`_ is used when it is important to preserve
+## the insertion order of keys.
+##
+## .. code-block::
+##   import tables
+##
+##   let
+##     a = [('z', 1), ('y', 2), ('x', 3)]
+##     t = a.toTable          # regular table
+##     ot = a.toOrderedTable  # ordered tables
+##
+##   echo t   # {'x': 3, 'y': 2, 'z': 1}
+##   echo ot  # {'z': 1, 'y': 2, 'x': 3}
+##
+##
+##
+## CountTable
+## ----------
+##
+## `CountTable<#CountTable>`_ is useful for counting number of items of some
+## container (e.g. string, sequence or array), as it is a mapping where the
+## items are the keys, and their number of occurrences are the values.
+## For that purpose `toCountTable proc<#toCountTable,openArray[A]>`_
+## comes handy:
+##
+## .. code-block::
+##   import tables
 ##
-## .. code-block:: nim
 ##   let myString = "abracadabra"
-##   var myTable = initCountTable[char]()
+##   let letterFrequencies = toCountTable(myString)
+##   echo letterFrequencies
+##   # 'a': 5, 'b': 2, 'c': 1, 'd': 1, 'r': 2}
+##
+## The same could have been achieved by manually iterating over a container
+## and increasing each key's value with `inc proc<#inc,CountTable[A],A,int>`_:
+##
+## .. code-block::
+##   import tables
 ##
+##   let myString = "abracadabra"
+##   var letterFrequencies = initCountTable[char]()
 ##   for c in myString:
-##     myTable.inc(c)
+##     letterFrequencies.inc(c)
+##   echo letterFrequencies
+##   # output: {'a': 5, 'b': 2, 'c': 1, 'd': 1, 'r': 2}
+##
+## ----
+##
 ##
-##   echo myTable  # output: {'a': 5, 'b': 2, 'c': 1, 'd': 1, 'r': 2}
 ##
+## Hashing
+## -------
 ##
 ## If you are using simple standard types like ``int`` or ``string`` for the
 ## keys of the table you won't have any problems, but as soon as you try to use
 ## a more complex object as a key you will be greeted by a strange compiler
-## error::
+## error:
 ##
 ##   Error: type mismatch: got (Person)
 ##   but expected one of:
-##   hashes.hash(x: openarray[A]): Hash
+##   hashes.hash(x: openArray[A]): Hash
 ##   hashes.hash(x: int): Hash
 ##   hashes.hash(x: float): Hash
 ##   …
@@ -89,6 +178,8 @@
 ## example implementing only ``hash`` suffices:
 ##
 ## .. code-block::
+##   import tables, hashes
+##
 ##   type
 ##     Person = object
 ##       firstName, lastName: string
@@ -111,45 +202,50 @@
 ##   p2.firstName = "소진"
 ##   p2.lastName = "박"
 ##   salaries[p2] = 45_000
+##
+## ----
+##
+## See also
+## ========
+##
+## * `json module<json.html>`_ for table-like structure which allows
+##   heterogeneous members
+## * `sharedtables module<sharedtables.html>`_ for shared hash table support
+## * `strtabs module<strtabs.html>`_ for efficient hash tables
+##   mapping from strings to strings
+## * `hashes module<hashes.html>`_ for helper functions for hashing
 
-import
-  hashes, math
+
+import hashes, math
 
 include "system/inclrtl"
 
 type
   KeyValuePair[A, B] = tuple[hcode: Hash, key: A, val: B]
   KeyValuePairSeq[A, B] = seq[KeyValuePair[A, B]]
-  Table*[A, B] = object ## generic hash table
+  Table*[A, B] = object
+    ## Generic hash table, consisting of a key-value pair.
+    ##
+    ## `data` and `counter` are internal implementation details which
+    ## can't be accessed.
+    ##
+    ## For creating an empty Table, use `initTable proc<#initTable,int>`_.
     data: KeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
     counter: int
-  TableRef*[A,B] = ref Table[A, B]
+  TableRef*[A,B] = ref Table[A, B] ## Ref version of `Table<#Table>`_.
+    ##
+    ## For creating a new empty TableRef, use `newTable proc
+    ## <#newTable,int>`_.
+
+
+# ------------------------------ helpers ---------------------------------
 
 template maxHash(t): untyped = high(t.data)
 template dataLen(t): untyped = len(t.data)
 
 include tableimpl
 
-proc clear*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B]) =
-  ## resets the table so that it is empty.
-  clearImpl()
-
-proc clear*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]) =
-  ## resets the ref table so that it is empty.
-  clearImpl()
-
-proc rightSize*(count: Natural): int {.inline.} =
-  ## return the value of ``initialSize`` to support ``count`` items.
-  ##
-  ## If more items are expected to be added, simply add that
-  ## expected extra amount to the parameter before calling this.
-  ##
-  ## Internally, we want mustRehash(rightSize(x), x) == false.
-  result = nextPowerOfTwo(count * 3 div 2  +  4)
-
-proc len*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): int =
-  ## returns the number of keys in ``t``.
-  result = t.counter
+proc rightSize*(count: Natural): int {.inline.}
 
 template get(t, key): untyped =
   ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
@@ -176,36 +272,340 @@ template getOrDefaultImpl(t, key, default: untyped): untyped =
   var index = rawGet(t, key, hc)
   result = if index >= 0: t.data[index].val else: default
 
-proc `[]`*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): B {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the
-  ## ``KeyError`` exception is raised. One can check with ``hasKey`` whether
-  ## the key exists.
-  get(t, key)
+template dollarImpl(): untyped {.dirty.} =
+  if t.len == 0:
+    result = "{:}"
+  else:
+    result = "{"
+    for key, val in pairs(t):
+      if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
+      result.addQuoted(key)
+      result.add(": ")
+      result.addQuoted(val)
+    result.add("}")
 
-proc `[]`*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A): var B {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
+proc enlarge[A, B](t: var Table[A, B]) =
+  var n: KeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
+  newSeq(n, len(t.data) * growthFactor)
+  swap(t.data, n)
+  for i in countup(0, high(n)):
+    let eh = n[i].hcode
+    if isFilled(eh):
+      var j: Hash = eh and maxHash(t)
+      while isFilled(t.data[j].hcode):
+        j = nextTry(j, maxHash(t))
+      rawInsert(t, t.data, n[i].key, n[i].val, eh, j)
+
+template equalsImpl(s, t: typed): typed =
+  if s.counter == t.counter:
+    # different insertion orders mean different 'data' seqs, so we have
+    # to use the slow route here:
+    for key, val in s:
+      if not t.hasKey(key): return false
+      if t.getOrDefault(key) != val: return false
+    return true
+
+
+
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ------------------------------ Table ------------------------------
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+proc initTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): Table[A, B] =
+  ## Creates a new hash table that is empty.
+  ##
+  ## ``initialSize`` must be a power of two (default: 64).
+  ## If you need to accept runtime values for this you could use the
+  ## `nextPowerOfTwo proc<math.html#nextPowerOfTwo,int>`_ from the
+  ## `math module<math.html>`_ or the `rightSize proc<#rightSize,Natural>`_
+  ## from this module.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `toTable proc<#toTable,openArray[]>`_
+  ## * `newTable proc<#newTable,int>`_ for creating a `TableRef`
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = initTable[int, string]()
+      b = initTable[char, seq[int]]()
+  assert isPowerOfTwo(initialSize)
+  result.counter = 0
+  newSeq(result.data, initialSize)
+
+proc toTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): Table[A, B] =
+  ## Creates a new hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
+  ##
+  ## ``pairs`` is a container consisting of ``(key, value)`` tuples.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `initTable proc<#initTable,int>`_
+  ## * `newTable proc<#newTable,openArray[]>`_ for a `TableRef` version
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = [('a', 5), ('b', 9)]
+    let b = toTable(a)
+    assert b == {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+  result = initTable[A, B](rightSize(pairs.len))
+  for key, val in items(pairs): result[key] = val
+
+proc `[]`*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): B =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ##
   ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  ## One can check with `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_ whether
+  ## the key exists.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]=,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_ for checking if a key is in
+  ##   the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert a['a'] == 5
+    doAssertRaises(KeyError):
+      echo a['z']
   get(t, key)
 
-proc mget*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A): var B {.deprecated.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
+proc `[]`*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A): var B =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
+  ##
   ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ## Use ``[]`` instead.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]=,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_ for checking if a key is in
+  ##   the table
   get(t, key)
 
+proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
+  ## Inserts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],Table[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `del proc<#del,Table[A,B],A>`_ for removing a key from the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = initTable[char, int]()
+    a['x'] = 7
+    a['y'] = 33
+    doAssert a == {'x': 7, 'y': 33}.toTable
+  putImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc hasKey*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `contains proc<#contains,Table[A,B],A>`_ for use with the `in` operator
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],Table[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert a.hasKey('a') == true
+    doAssert a.hasKey('z') == false
+  var hc: Hash
+  result = rawGet(t, key, hc) >= 0
+
+proc contains*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Alias of `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_ for use with
+  ## the ``in`` operator.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert 'b' in a == true
+    doAssert a.contains('z') == false
+  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
+
+proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],Table[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('a', 50):
+      a['a'] = 99
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('z', 50):
+      a['z'] = 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 99, 'b': 9, 'z': 50}.toTable
+  hasKeyOrPutImpl(enlarge)
+
 proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
   ## default initialization value for type ``B`` is returned (e.g. 0 for any
   ## integer type).
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],Table[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a') == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z') == 0
   getOrDefaultImpl(t, key)
 
 proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A, default: B): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``.
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``.
   ## Otherwise, ``default`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],Table[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z', 99) == 99
   getOrDefaultImpl(t, key, default)
 
+proc mgetOrPut*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B): var B =
+  ## Retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
+  ## returning a value which can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],Table[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('z', 99) == 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'z': 99}.toTable
+  mgetOrPutImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc len*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): int =
+  ## Returns the number of keys in ``t``.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 2
+  result = t.counter
+
+proc add*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
+  ## Puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
+  ##
+  ## **This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!**
+  ##
+  ## Use `[]= proc<#[]=,Table[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ## (key, value) pair in the table without introducing duplicates.
+  addImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc del*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A) =
+  ## Deletes ``key`` from hash table ``t``. Does nothing if the key does not exist.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `take proc<#take,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `clear proc<#clear,Table[A,B]>`_ to empty the whole table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toTable
+    a.del('a')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toTable
+    a.del('z')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toTable
+  delImpl()
+
+proc take*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: var B): bool =
+  ## Deletes the ``key`` from the table.
+  ## Returns ``true``, if the ``key`` existed, and sets ``val`` to the
+  ## mapping of the key. Otherwise, returns ``false``, and the ``val`` is
+  ## unchanged.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `del proc<#del,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `clear proc<#clear,Table[A,B]>`_ to empty the whole table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var
+      a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toTable
+      i: int
+    doAssert a.take('b', i) == true
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'c': 13}.toTable
+    doAssert i == 9
+    i = 0
+    doAssert a.take('z', i) == false
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'c': 13}.toTable
+    doAssert i == 0
+
+  var hc: Hash
+  var index = rawGet(t, key, hc)
+  result = index >= 0
+  if result:
+    shallowCopy(val, t.data[index].val)
+    delImplIdx(t, index)
+
+proc clear*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B]) =
+  ## Resets the table so that it is empty.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `del proc<#del,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `take proc<#take,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 3
+    clear(a)
+    doAssert len(a) == 0
+  clearImpl()
+
+proc `$`*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): string =
+  ## The ``$`` operator for hash tables. Used internally when calling `echo`
+  ## on a table.
+  dollarImpl()
+
+proc `==`*[A, B](s, t: Table[A, B]): bool =
+  ## The ``==`` operator for hash tables. Returns ``true`` if the content of both
+  ## tables contains the same key-value pairs. Insert order does not matter.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toTable
+      b = {'b': 9, 'c': 13, 'a': 5}.toTable
+    doAssert a == b
+  equalsImpl(s, t)
+
+proc rightSize*(count: Natural): int {.inline.} =
+  ## Return the value of ``initialSize`` to support ``count`` items.
+  ##
+  ## If more items are expected to be added, simply add that
+  ## expected extra amount to the parameter before calling this.
+  ##
+  ## Internally, we want mustRehash(rightSize(x), x) == false.
+  result = nextPowerOfTwo(count * 3 div 2  +  4)
+
+proc indexBy*[A, B, C](collection: A, index: proc(x: B): C): Table[C, B] =
+  ## Index the collection with the proc provided.
+  # TODO: As soon as supported, change collection: A to collection: A[B]
+  result = initTable[C, B]()
+  for item in collection:
+    result[index(item)] = item
+
+
+
 template withValue*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, value, body: untyped) =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ##
   ## ``value`` can be modified in the scope of the ``withValue`` call.
   ##
   ## .. code-block:: nim
@@ -225,7 +625,8 @@ template withValue*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, value, body: untyped) =
 
 template withValue*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A,
                           value, body1, body2: untyped) =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ##
   ## ``value`` can be modified in the scope of the ``withValue`` call.
   ##
   ## .. code-block:: nim
@@ -248,370 +649,535 @@ template withValue*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A,
   else:
     body2
 
-iterator allValues*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]; key: A): B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t`` that belongs to the given ``key``.
-  var h: Hash = genHash(key) and high(t.data)
-  while isFilled(t.data[h].hcode):
-    if t.data[h].key == key:
-      yield t.data[h].val
-    h = nextTry(h, high(t.data))
-
-proc hasKey*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
-  var hc: Hash
-  result = rawGet(t, key, hc) >= 0
-
-proc contains*[A, B](t: Table[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## alias of ``hasKey`` for use with the ``in`` operator.
-  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
 
 iterator pairs*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): (A, B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   let a = {
+  ##     'o': [1, 5, 7, 9],
+  ##     'e': [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  ##     }.toTable
+  ##
+  ##   for k, v in a.pairs:
+  ##     echo "key: ", k
+  ##     echo "value: ", v
+  ##
+  ##   # key: e
+  ##   # value: [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  ##   # key: o
+  ##   # value: [1, 5, 7, 9]
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
 iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B]): (A, var B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``. The values
-  ## can be modified.
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` (must be
+  ## declared as `var`). The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toTable
+    for k, v in a.mpairs:
+      v.add(v[0] + 10)
+    doAssert a == {'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 12], 'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 11]}.toTable
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
 iterator keys*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): A =
-  ## iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
+  ## Iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toTable
+    for k in a.keys:
+      a[k].add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99], 'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99]}.toTable
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].key
 
 iterator values*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toTable
+    for v in a.values:
+      doAssert v.len == 4
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].val
 
 iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B]): var B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``. The values can be modified.
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` (must be
+  ## declared as `var`). The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,Table[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toTable
+    for v in a.mvalues:
+      v.add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99], 'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99]}.toTable
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].val
 
-proc del*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A) =
-  ## deletes ``key`` from hash table ``t``. Does nothing if the key does not exist.
-  delImpl()
-
-proc take*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: var B): bool =
-  ## deletes the ``key`` from the table.
-  ## Returns ``true``, if the ``key`` existed, and sets ``val`` to the
-  ## mapping of the key. Otherwise, returns ``false``, and the ``val`` is
-  ## unchanged.
-  var hc: Hash
-  var index = rawGet(t, key, hc)
-  result = index >= 0
-  if result:
-    shallowCopy(val, t.data[index].val)
-    delImplIdx(t, index)
-
-proc enlarge[A, B](t: var Table[A, B]) =
-  var n: KeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
-  newSeq(n, len(t.data) * growthFactor)
-  swap(t.data, n)
-  for i in countup(0, high(n)):
-    let eh = n[i].hcode
-    if isFilled(eh):
-      var j: Hash = eh and maxHash(t)
-      while isFilled(t.data[j].hcode):
-        j = nextTry(j, maxHash(t))
-      rawInsert(t, t.data, n[i].key, n[i].val, eh, j)
-
-proc mgetOrPut*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B): var B =
-  ## retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
-  ## returning a value which can be modified.
-  mgetOrPutImpl(enlarge)
-
-proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
-  hasKeyOrPutImpl(enlarge)
-
-proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
-  putImpl(enlarge)
-
-proc add*[A, B](t: var Table[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
-  ## This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!
-  addImpl(enlarge)
-
-proc len*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): int =
-  ## returns the number of keys in ``t``.
-  result = t.counter
-
-proc initTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): Table[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new hash table that is empty.
+iterator allValues*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]; key: A): B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` that belongs to the given ``key``.
   ##
-  ## ``initialSize`` needs to be a power of two. If you need to accept runtime
-  ## values for this you could use the ``nextPowerOfTwo`` proc from the
-  ## `math <math.html>`_ module or the ``rightSize`` proc from this module.
-  assert isPowerOfTwo(initialSize)
-  result.counter = 0
-  newSeq(result.data, initialSize)
+  ## Used if you have a table with duplicate keys (as a result of using
+  ## `add proc<#add,Table[A,B],A,B>`_).
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   var a = {'a': 3, 'b': 5}.toTable
+  ##   for i in 1..3:
+  ##     a.add('z', 10*i)
+  ##   echo a # {'a': 3, 'b': 5, 'z': 10, 'z': 20, 'z': 30}
+  ##
+  ##   for v in a.allValues('z'):
+  ##     echo v
+  ##   # 10
+  ##   # 20
+  ##   # 30
+  var h: Hash = genHash(key) and high(t.data)
+  while isFilled(t.data[h].hcode):
+    if t.data[h].key == key:
+      yield t.data[h].val
+    h = nextTry(h, high(t.data))
 
-proc toTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): Table[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
-  result = initTable[A, B](rightSize(pairs.len))
-  for key, val in items(pairs): result[key] = val
 
-template dollarImpl(): untyped {.dirty.} =
-  if t.len == 0:
-    result = "{:}"
-  else:
-    result = "{"
-    for key, val in pairs(t):
-      if result.len > 1: result.add(", ")
-      result.addQuoted(key)
-      result.add(": ")
-      result.addQuoted(val)
-    result.add("}")
 
-proc `$`*[A, B](t: Table[A, B]): string =
-  ## the ``$`` operator for hash tables.
-  dollarImpl()
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ---------------------------- TableRef -----------------------------
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-proc hasKey*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
-  result = t[].hasKey(key)
 
-template equalsImpl(s, t: typed): typed =
-  if s.counter == t.counter:
-    # different insertion orders mean different 'data' seqs, so we have
-    # to use the slow route here:
-    for key, val in s:
-      if not t.hasKey(key): return false
-      if t.getOrDefault(key) != val: return false
-    return true
+proc newTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): TableRef[A, B] =
+  ## Creates a new ref hash table that is empty.
+  ##
+  ## ``initialSize`` must be a power of two (default: 64).
+  ## If you need to accept runtime values for this you could use the
+  ## `nextPowerOfTwo proc<math.html#nextPowerOfTwo,int>`_ from the
+  ## `math module<math.html>`_ or the `rightSize proc<#rightSize,Natural>`_
+  ## from this module.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `newTable proc<#newTable,openArray[]>`_ for creating a `TableRef`
+  ##   from a collection of `(key, value)` pairs
+  ## * `initTable proc<#initTable,int>`_ for creating a `Table`
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = newTable[int, string]()
+      b = newTable[char, seq[int]]()
+  new(result)
+  result[] = initTable[A, B](initialSize)
 
-proc `==`*[A, B](s, t: Table[A, B]): bool =
-  ## The ``==`` operator for hash tables. Returns ``true`` iff the content of both
-  ## tables contains the same key-value pairs. Insert order does not matter.
-  equalsImpl(s, t)
+proc newTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): TableRef[A, B] =
+  ## Creates a new ref hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
+  ##
+  ## ``pairs`` is a container consisting of ``(key, value)`` tuples.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `newTable proc<#newTable,int>`_
+  ## * `toTable proc<#toTable,openArray[]>`_ for a `Table` version
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = [('a', 5), ('b', 9)]
+    let b = newTable(a)
+    assert b == {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+  new(result)
+  result[] = toTable[A, B](pairs)
 
-proc indexBy*[A, B, C](collection: A, index: proc(x: B): C): Table[C, B] =
+proc newTableFrom*[A, B, C](collection: A, index: proc(x: B): C): TableRef[C, B] =
   ## Index the collection with the proc provided.
   # TODO: As soon as supported, change collection: A to collection: A[B]
-  result = initTable[C, B]()
+  result = newTable[C, B]()
   for item in collection:
     result[index(item)] = item
 
-iterator pairs*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): (A, B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
-
-iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): (A, var B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``. The values
-  ## can be modified.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
-
-iterator keys*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): A =
-  ## iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].key
+proc `[]`*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): var B =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ##
+  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the  ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  ## One can check with `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ whether
+  ## the key exists.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]=,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for checking if a key is in
+  ##   the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert a['a'] == 5
+    doAssertRaises(KeyError):
+      echo a['z']
+  result = t[][key]
 
-iterator values*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].val
+proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
+  ## Inserts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `del proc<#del,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for removing a key from the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = newTable[char, int]()
+    a['x'] = 7
+    a['y'] = 33
+    doAssert a == {'x': 7, 'y': 33}.newTable
+  t[][key] = val
 
-iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): var B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``. The values can be modified.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].val
+proc hasKey*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `contains proc<#contains,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for use with the `in`
+  ##   operator
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert a.hasKey('a') == true
+    doAssert a.hasKey('z') == false
+  result = t[].hasKey(key)
 
-proc `[]`*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): var B {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the
-  ## ``KeyError`` exception is raised. One can check with ``hasKey`` whether
-  ## the key exists.
-  result = t[][key]
+proc contains*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Alias of `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for use with
+  ## the ``in`` operator.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert 'b' in a == true
+    doAssert a.contains('z') == false
+  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
 
-proc mget*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): var B {.deprecated.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ## Use ``[]`` instead.
-  t[][key]
+proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('a', 50):
+      a['a'] = 99
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('z', 50):
+      a['z'] = 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 99, 'b': 9, 'z': 50}.newTable
+  t[].hasKeyOrPut(key, val)
 
 proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
   ## default initialization value for type ``B`` is returned (e.g. 0 for any
   ## integer type).
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a') == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z') == 0
   getOrDefault(t[], key)
 
 proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A, default: B): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``.
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``.
   ## Otherwise, ``default`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z', 99) == 99
   getOrDefault(t[], key, default)
 
 proc mgetOrPut*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B): var B =
-  ## retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
+  ## Retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
   ## returning a value which can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],TableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,TableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('z', 99) == 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'z': 99}.newTable
   t[].mgetOrPut(key, val)
 
-proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
-  t[].hasKeyOrPut(key, val)
-
-proc contains*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## Alias of ``hasKey`` for use with the ``in`` operator.
-  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
-
-proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
-  t[][key] = val
+proc len*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): int =
+  ## Returns the number of keys in ``t``.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 2
+  result = t.counter
 
 proc add*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
-  ## This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!
+  ## Puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
+  ##
+  ## **This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!**
+  ##
+  ## Use `[]= proc<#[]=,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ## (key, value) pair in the table without introducing duplicates.
   t[].add(key, val)
 
 proc del*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A) =
-  ## deletes ``key`` from hash table ``t``. Does nothing if the key does not exist.
+  ## Deletes ``key`` from hash table ``t``. Does nothing if the key does not exist.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `take proc<#take,TableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `clear proc<#clear,TableRef[A,B]>`_ to empty the whole table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newTable
+    a.del('a')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newTable
+    a.del('z')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newTable
   t[].del(key)
 
 proc take*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B], key: A, val: var B): bool =
-  ## deletes the ``key`` from the table.
+  ## Deletes the ``key`` from the table.
   ## Returns ``true``, if the ``key`` existed, and sets ``val`` to the
   ## mapping of the key. Otherwise, returns ``false``, and the ``val`` is
   ## unchanged.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `del proc<#del,TableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `clear proc<#clear,TableRef[A,B]>`_ to empty the whole table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var
+      a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newTable
+      i: int
+    doAssert a.take('b', i) == true
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'c': 13}.newTable
+    doAssert i == 9
+    i = 0
+    doAssert a.take('z', i) == false
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'c': 13}.newTable
+    doAssert i == 0
   result = t[].take(key, val)
 
-proc newTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): TableRef[A, B] =
-  new(result)
-  result[] = initTable[A, B](initialSize)
-
-proc newTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): TableRef[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
-  new(result)
-  result[] = toTable[A, B](pairs)
+proc clear*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]) =
+  ## Resets the table so that it is empty.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `del proc<#del,Table[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `take proc<#take,Table[A,B],A,B>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 3
+    clear(a)
+    doAssert len(a) == 0
+  clearImpl()
 
 proc `$`*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): string =
-  ## The ``$`` operator for hash tables.
+  ## The ``$`` operator for hash tables. Used internally when calling `echo`
+  ## on a table.
   dollarImpl()
 
 proc `==`*[A, B](s, t: TableRef[A, B]): bool =
-  ## The ``==`` operator for hash tables. Returns ``true`` iff either both tables
-  ## are ``nil`` or none is ``nil`` and the content of both tables contains the
+  ## The ``==`` operator for hash tables. Returns ``true`` if either both tables
+  ## are ``nil``, or neither is ``nil`` and the content of both tables contains the
   ## same key-value pairs. Insert order does not matter.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newTable
+      b = {'b': 9, 'c': 13, 'a': 5}.newTable
+    doAssert a == b
   if isNil(s): result = isNil(t)
   elif isNil(t): result = false
   else: equalsImpl(s[], t[])
 
-proc newTableFrom*[A, B, C](collection: A, index: proc(x: B): C): TableRef[C, B] =
-  ## Index the collection with the proc provided.
-  # TODO: As soon as supported, change collection: A to collection: A[B]
-  result = newTable[C, B]()
-  for item in collection:
-    result[index(item)] = item
 
-# ------------------------------ ordered table ------------------------------
 
-type
-  OrderedKeyValuePair[A, B] = tuple[
-    hcode: Hash, next: int, key: A, val: B]
-  OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B] = seq[OrderedKeyValuePair[A, B]]
-  OrderedTable* [A, B] = object ## table that remembers insertion order
-    data: OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
-    counter, first, last: int
-  OrderedTableRef*[A, B] = ref OrderedTable[A, B]
-
-proc len*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): int {.inline.} =
-  ## returns the number of keys in ``t``.
-  result = t.counter
+iterator pairs*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): (A, B) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   let a = {
+  ##     'o': [1, 5, 7, 9],
+  ##     'e': [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  ##     }.newTable
+  ##
+  ##   for k, v in a.pairs:
+  ##     echo "key: ", k
+  ##     echo "value: ", v
+  ##
+  ##   # key: e
+  ##   # value: [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  ##   # key: o
+  ##   # value: [1, 5, 7, 9]
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-proc clear*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]) =
-  ## resets the table so that it is empty.
-  clearImpl()
-  t.first = -1
-  t.last = -1
+iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): (A, var B) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``. The values
+  ## can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newTable
+    for k, v in a.mpairs:
+      v.add(v[0] + 10)
+    doAssert a == {'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 12], 'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 11]}.newTable
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-proc clear*[A, B](t: var OrderedTableRef[A, B]) =
-  ## resets the table so that is is empty.
-  clear(t[])
+iterator keys*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): A =
+  ## Iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newTable
+    for k in a.keys:
+      a[k].add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99], 'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99]}.newTable
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].key
 
-template forAllOrderedPairs(yieldStmt: untyped): typed {.dirty.} =
-  var h = t.first
-  while h >= 0:
-    var nxt = t.data[h].next
-    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yieldStmt
-    h = nxt
+iterator values*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newTable
+    for v in a.values:
+      doAssert v.len == 4
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator pairs*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): (A, B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
-  ## order.
-  forAllOrderedPairs:
-    yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
+iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: TableRef[A, B]): var B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t``. The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,TableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newTable
+    for v in a.mvalues:
+      v.add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99], 'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99]}.newTable
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]): (A, var B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
-  ## order. The values can be modified.
-  forAllOrderedPairs:
-    yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator keys*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): A =
-  ## iterates over any key in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
-  forAllOrderedPairs:
-    yield t.data[h].key
 
-iterator values*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
-  forAllOrderedPairs:
-    yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]): var B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order. The values
-  ## can be modified.
-  forAllOrderedPairs:
-    yield t.data[h].val
 
-proc rawGetKnownHC[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, hc: Hash): int =
-  rawGetKnownHCImpl()
 
-proc rawGetDeep[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, hc: var Hash): int {.inline.} =
-  rawGetDeepImpl()
 
-proc rawGet[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, hc: var Hash): int =
-  rawGetImpl()
 
-proc `[]`*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): B {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the
-  ## ``KeyError`` exception is raised. One can check with ``hasKey`` whether
-  ## the key exists.
-  get(t, key)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ------------------------------ OrderedTable -------------------------------
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-proc `[]`*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): var B{.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  get(t, key)
+type
+  OrderedKeyValuePair[A, B] = tuple[
+    hcode: Hash, next: int, key: A, val: B]
+  OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B] = seq[OrderedKeyValuePair[A, B]]
+  OrderedTable* [A, B] = object
+    ## Hash table that remembers insertion order.
+    ##
+    ## For creating an empty OrderedTable, use `initOrderedTable proc
+    ## <#initOrderedTable,int>`_.
+    data: OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
+    counter, first, last: int
+  OrderedTableRef*[A, B] = ref OrderedTable[A, B] ## Ref version of
+    ## `OrderedTable<#OrderedTable>`_.
+    ##
+    ## For creating a new empty OrderedTableRef, use `newOrderedTable proc
+    ## <#newOrderedTable,int>`_.
 
-proc mget*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): var B {.deprecated.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ## Use ``[]`` instead.
-  get(t, key)
 
-proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
-  ## default initialization value for type ``B`` is returned (e.g. 0 for any
-  ## integer type).
-  getOrDefaultImpl(t, key)
+# ------------------------------ helpers ---------------------------------
 
-proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, default: B): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise,
-  ## ``default`` is returned.
-  getOrDefaultImpl(t, key, default)
+proc rawGetKnownHC[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, hc: Hash): int =
+  rawGetKnownHCImpl()
 
-proc hasKey*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
-  var hc: Hash
-  result = rawGet(t, key, hc) >= 0
+proc rawGetDeep[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, hc: var Hash): int {.inline.} =
+  rawGetDeepImpl()
 
-proc contains*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## Alias of ``hasKey`` for use with the ``in`` operator.
-  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
+proc rawGet[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, hc: var Hash): int =
+  rawGetImpl()
 
 proc rawInsert[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B],
                      data: var OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B],
@@ -639,30 +1205,32 @@ proc enlarge[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]) =
       rawInsert(t, t.data, n[h].key, n[h].val, n[h].hcode, j)
     h = nxt
 
-proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
-  putImpl(enlarge)
-
-proc add*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
-  ## This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!
-  addImpl(enlarge)
+template forAllOrderedPairs(yieldStmt: untyped): typed {.dirty.} =
+  var h = t.first
+  while h >= 0:
+    var nxt = t.data[h].next
+    if isFilled(t.data[h].hcode): yieldStmt
+    h = nxt
 
-proc mgetOrPut*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B): var B =
-  ## retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``value`` if not present, either way
-  ## returning a value which can be modified.
-  mgetOrPutImpl(enlarge)
-
-proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
-  hasKeyOrPutImpl(enlarge)
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 proc initOrderedTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): OrderedTable[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new ordered hash table that is empty.
+  ## Creates a new ordered hash table that is empty.
+  ##
+  ## ``initialSize`` must be a power of two (default: 64).
+  ## If you need to accept runtime values for this you could use the
+  ## `nextPowerOfTwo proc<math.html#nextPowerOfTwo,int>`_ from the
+  ## `math module<math.html>`_ or the `rightSize proc<#rightSize,Natural>`_
+  ## from this module.
   ##
-  ## ``initialSize`` needs to be a power of two. If you need to accept runtime
-  ## values for this you could use the ``nextPowerOfTwo`` proc from the
-  ## `math <math.html>`_ module or the ``rightSize`` proc from this module.
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `toOrderedTable proc<#toOrderedTable,openArray[]>`_
+  ## * `newOrderedTable proc<#newOrderedTable,int>`_ for creating an
+  ##   `OrderedTableRef`
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = initOrderedTable[int, string]()
+      b = initOrderedTable[char, seq[int]]()
   assert isPowerOfTwo(initialSize)
   result.counter = 0
   result.first = -1
@@ -670,36 +1238,250 @@ proc initOrderedTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): OrderedTable[A, B] =
   newSeq(result.data, initialSize)
 
 proc toOrderedTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): OrderedTable[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new ordered hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
+  ## Creates a new ordered hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
+  ##
+  ## ``pairs`` is a container consisting of ``(key, value)`` tuples.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `initOrderedTable proc<#initOrderedTable,int>`_
+  ## * `newOrderedTable proc<#newOrderedTable,openArray[]>`_ for an
+  ##   `OrderedTableRef` version
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = [('a', 5), ('b', 9)]
+    let b = toOrderedTable(a)
+    assert b == {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
   result = initOrderedTable[A, B](rightSize(pairs.len))
   for key, val in items(pairs): result[key] = val
 
-proc `$`*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): string =
-  ## The ``$`` operator for ordered hash tables.
-  dollarImpl()
+proc `[]`*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): B =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ##
+  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the  ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  ## One can check with `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ whether
+  ## the key exists.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]=,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for checking if a
+  ##   key is in the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert a['a'] == 5
+    doAssertRaises(KeyError):
+      echo a['z']
+  get(t, key)
 
-proc `==`*[A, B](s, t: OrderedTable[A, B]): bool =
-  ## The ``==`` operator for ordered hash tables. Returns true iff both the
-  ## content and the order are equal.
-  if s.counter != t.counter:
-    return false
-  var ht = t.first
-  var hs = s.first
-  while ht >= 0 and hs >= 0:
-    var nxtt = t.data[ht].next
-    var nxts = s.data[hs].next
-    if isFilled(t.data[ht].hcode) and isFilled(s.data[hs].hcode):
-      if (s.data[hs].key != t.data[ht].key) or (s.data[hs].val != t.data[ht].val):
-        return false
-    ht = nxtt
-    hs = nxts
-  return true
+proc `[]`*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): var B=
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]=,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for checking if a
+  ##   key is in the table
+  get(t, key)
+
+proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
+  ## Inserts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `del proc<#del,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for removing a key from the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = initOrderedTable[char, int]()
+    a['x'] = 7
+    a['y'] = 33
+    doAssert a == {'x': 7, 'y': 33}.toOrderedTable
+  putImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc hasKey*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `contains proc<#contains,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for use with the `in`
+  ##   operator
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.hasKey('a') == true
+    doAssert a.hasKey('z') == false
+  var hc: Hash
+  result = rawGet(t, key, hc) >= 0
+
+proc contains*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Alias of `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for use with
+  ## the ``in`` operator.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert 'b' in a == true
+    doAssert a.contains('z') == false
+  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
+
+proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('a', 50):
+      a['a'] = 99
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('z', 50):
+      a['z'] = 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 99, 'b': 9, 'z': 50}.toOrderedTable
+  hasKeyOrPutImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A): B =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
+  ## default initialization value for type ``B`` is returned (e.g. 0 for any
+  ## integer type).
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a') == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z') == 0
+  getOrDefaultImpl(t, key)
+
+proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, default: B): B =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``.
+  ## Otherwise, ``default`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z', 99) == 99
+  getOrDefaultImpl(t, key, default)
+
+proc mgetOrPut*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B): var B =
+  ## Retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
+  ## returning a value which can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('z', 99) == 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'z': 99}.toOrderedTable
+  mgetOrPutImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc len*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): int {.inline.} =
+  ## Returns the number of keys in ``t``.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 2
+  result = t.counter
+
+proc add*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
+  ## Puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
+  ##
+  ## **This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!**
+  ##
+  ## Use `[]= proc<#[]=,OrderedTable[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ## (key, value) pair in the table without introducing duplicates.
+  addImpl(enlarge)
+
+proc del*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A) =
+  ## Deletes ``key`` from hash table ``t``. Does nothing if the key does not exist.
+  ##
+  ## O(n) complexity.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `clear proc<#clear,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_ to empty the whole table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toOrderedTable
+    a.del('a')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toOrderedTable
+    a.del('z')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toOrderedTable
+  var n: OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
+  newSeq(n, len(t.data))
+  var h = t.first
+  t.first = -1
+  t.last = -1
+  swap(t.data, n)
+  let hc = genHash(key)
+  while h >= 0:
+    var nxt = n[h].next
+    if isFilled(n[h].hcode):
+      if n[h].hcode == hc and n[h].key == key:
+        dec t.counter
+      else:
+        var j = -1 - rawGetKnownHC(t, n[h].key, n[h].hcode)
+        rawInsert(t, t.data, n[h].key, n[h].val, n[h].hcode, j)
+    h = nxt
+
+proc clear*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]) =
+  ## Resets the table so that it is empty.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `del proc<#del,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 3
+    clear(a)
+    doAssert len(a) == 0
+  clearImpl()
+  t.first = -1
+  t.last = -1
 
 proc sort*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], cmp: proc (x,y: (A, B)): int) =
-  ## sorts ``t`` according to ``cmp``. This modifies the internal list
+  ## Sorts ``t`` according to the function ``cmp``.
+  ##
+  ## This modifies the internal list
   ## that kept the insertion order, so insertion order is lost after this
   ## call but key lookup and insertions remain possible after ``sort`` (in
-  ## contrast to the ``sort`` for count tables).
+  ## contrast to the `sort proc<#sort,CountTable[A]>`_ for count tables).
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = initOrderedTable[char, int]()
+    for i, c in "cab":
+      a[c] = 10*i
+    doAssert a == {'c': 0, 'a': 10, 'b': 20}.toOrderedTable
+    a.sort(system.cmp)
+    doAssert a == {'a': 10, 'b': 20, 'c': 0}.toOrderedTable
+
   var list = t.first
   var
     p, q, e, tail, oldhead: int
@@ -740,244 +1522,519 @@ proc sort*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], cmp: proc (x,y: (A, B)): int) =
   t.first = list
   t.last = tail
 
-proc len*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): int {.inline.} =
-  ## returns the number of keys in ``t``.
-  result = t.counter
+proc `$`*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): string =
+  ## The ``$`` operator for ordered hash tables. Used internally when calling
+  ## `echo` on a table.
+  dollarImpl()
 
-iterator pairs*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): (A, B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
+proc `==`*[A, B](s, t: OrderedTable[A, B]): bool =
+  ## The ``==`` operator for ordered hash tables. Returns ``true`` if both the
+  ## content and the order are equal.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.toOrderedTable
+      b = {'b': 9, 'c': 13, 'a': 5}.toOrderedTable
+    doAssert a != b
+
+  if s.counter != t.counter:
+    return false
+  var ht = t.first
+  var hs = s.first
+  while ht >= 0 and hs >= 0:
+    var nxtt = t.data[ht].next
+    var nxts = s.data[hs].next
+    if isFilled(t.data[ht].hcode) and isFilled(s.data[hs].hcode):
+      if (s.data[hs].key != t.data[ht].key) or (s.data[hs].val != t.data[ht].val):
+        return false
+    ht = nxtt
+    hs = nxts
+  return true
+
+
+
+iterator pairs*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): (A, B) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
   ## order.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   let a = {
+  ##     'o': [1, 5, 7, 9],
+  ##     'e': [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  ##     }.toOrderedTable
+  ##
+  ##   for k, v in a.pairs:
+  ##     echo "key: ", k
+  ##     echo "value: ", v
+  ##
+  ##   # key: o
+  ##   # value: [1, 5, 7, 9]
+  ##   # key: e
+  ##   # value: [2, 4, 6, 8]
   forAllOrderedPairs:
     yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): (A, var B) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
-  ## order. The values can be modified.
+iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]): (A, var B) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` (must be
+  ## declared as `var`) in insertion order. The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toOrderedTable
+    for k, v in a.mpairs:
+      v.add(v[0] + 10)
+    doAssert a == {'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 11], 'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 12]}.toOrderedTable
   forAllOrderedPairs:
     yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator keys*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): A =
-  ## iterates over any key in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
+iterator keys*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): A =
+  ## Iterates over any key in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toOrderedTable
+    for k in a.keys:
+      a[k].add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99], 'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99]}.toOrderedTable
   forAllOrderedPairs:
     yield t.data[h].key
 
-iterator values*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
+iterator values*[A, B](t: OrderedTable[A, B]): B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toOrderedTable
+    for v in a.values:
+      doAssert v.len == 4
   forAllOrderedPairs:
     yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): var B =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order. The values
+iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B]): var B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` (must be
+  ## declared as `var`) in insertion order. The values
   ## can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,OrderedTable[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.toOrderedTable
+    for v in a.mvalues:
+      v.add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99], 'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99]}.toOrderedTable
   forAllOrderedPairs:
     yield t.data[h].val
 
+
+
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# --------------------------- OrderedTableRef -------------------------------
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+proc newOrderedTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): OrderedTableRef[A, B] =
+  ## Creates a new ordered ref hash table that is empty.
+  ##
+  ## ``initialSize`` must be a power of two (default: 64).
+  ## If you need to accept runtime values for this you could use the
+  ## `nextPowerOfTwo proc<math.html#nextPowerOfTwo,int>`_ from the
+  ## `math module<math.html>`_ or the `rightSize proc<#rightSize,Natural>`_
+  ## from this module.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `newOrderedTable proc<#newOrderedTable,openArray[]>`_ for creating
+  ##   an `OrderedTableRef` from a collection of `(key, value)` pairs
+  ## * `initOrderedTable proc<#initOrderedTable,int>`_ for creating an
+  ##   `OrderedTable`
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = newOrderedTable[int, string]()
+      b = newOrderedTable[char, seq[int]]()
+  new(result)
+  result[] = initOrderedTable[A, B](initialSize)
+
+proc newOrderedTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): OrderedTableRef[A, B] =
+  ## Creates a new ordered ref hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
+  ##
+  ## ``pairs`` is a container consisting of ``(key, value)`` tuples.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `newOrderedTable proc<#newOrderedTable,int>`_
+  ## * `toOrderedTable proc<#toOrderedTable,openArray[]>`_ for an
+  ##   `OrderedTable` version
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = [('a', 5), ('b', 9)]
+    let b = newOrderedTable(a)
+    assert b == {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+  result = newOrderedTable[A, B](rightSize(pairs.len))
+  for key, val in items(pairs): result.add(key, val)
+
+
 proc `[]`*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): var B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the
-  ## ``KeyError`` exception is raised. One can check with ``hasKey`` whether
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``.
+  ##
+  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the  ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  ## One can check with `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ whether
   ## the key exists.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]=,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for checking if
+  ##   a key is in the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert a['a'] == 5
+    doAssertRaises(KeyError):
+      echo a['z']
   result = t[][key]
 
-proc mget*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): var B {.deprecated.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ## Use ``[]`` instead.
-  result = t[][key]
+proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
+  ## Inserts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `del proc<#del,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for removing a key from the table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = newOrderedTable[char, int]()
+    a['x'] = 7
+    a['y'] = 33
+    doAssert a == {'x': 7, 'y': 33}.newOrderedTable
+  t[][key] = val
+
+proc hasKey*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `contains proc<#contains,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for use with the `in`
+  ##   operator
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.hasKey('a') == true
+    doAssert a.hasKey('z') == false
+  result = t[].hasKey(key)
+
+proc contains*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
+  ## Alias of `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for use with
+  ## the ``in`` operator.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert 'b' in a == true
+    doAssert a.contains('z') == false
+  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
+
+proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``value``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('a', 50):
+      a['a'] = 99
+    if a.hasKeyOrPut('z', 50):
+      a['z'] = 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 99, 'b': 9, 'z': 50}.newOrderedTable
+  result = t[].hasKeyOrPut(key, val)
 
 proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
   ## default initialization value for type ``B`` is returned (e.g. 0 for any
   ## integer type).
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a') == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z') == 0
   getOrDefault(t[], key)
 
 proc getOrDefault*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, default: B): B =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise,
-  ## ``default`` is returned.
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``.
+  ## Otherwise, ``default`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `mgetOrPut proc<#mgetOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.getOrDefault('z', 99) == 99
   getOrDefault(t[], key, default)
 
 proc mgetOrPut*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B): var B =
-  ## retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
+  ## Retrieves value at ``t[key]`` or puts ``val`` if not present, either way
   ## returning a value which can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_
+  ## * `hasKeyOrPut proc<#hasKeyOrPut,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A>`_ to return
+  ##   a default value (e.g. zero for int) if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('a', 99) == 5
+    doAssert a.mgetOrPut('z', 99) == 99
+    doAssert a == {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'z': 99}.newOrderedTable
   result = t[].mgetOrPut(key, val)
 
-proc hasKeyOrPut*[A, B](t: var OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table, otherwise inserts ``val``.
-  result = t[].hasKeyOrPut(key, val)
-
-proc hasKey*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
-  result = t[].hasKey(key)
-
-proc contains*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A): bool =
-  ## Alias of ``hasKey`` for use with the ``in`` operator.
-  return hasKey[A, B](t, key)
-
-proc `[]=`*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
-  t[][key] = val
+proc len*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): int {.inline.} =
+  ## Returns the number of keys in ``t``.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 2
+  result = t.counter
 
 proc add*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A, val: B) =
-  ## puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
-  ## This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!
+  ## Puts a new ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t`` even if ``t[key]`` already exists.
+  ##
+  ## **This can introduce duplicate keys into the table!**
+  ##
+  ## Use `[]= proc<#[]=,OrderedTableRef[A,B],A,B>`_ for inserting a new
+  ## (key, value) pair in the table without introducing duplicates.
   t[].add(key, val)
 
-proc newOrderedTable*[A, B](initialSize=64): OrderedTableRef[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new ordered hash table that is empty.
+proc del*[A, B](t: var OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A) =
+  ## Deletes ``key`` from hash table ``t``. Does nothing if the key does not exist.
   ##
-  ## ``initialSize`` needs to be a power of two. If you need to accept runtime
-  ## values for this you could use the ``nextPowerOfTwo`` proc from the
-  ## `math <math.html>`_ module or the ``rightSize`` proc from this module.
-  new(result)
-  result[] = initOrderedTable[A, B](initialSize)
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `clear proc<#clear,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_ to empty the whole table
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newOrderedTable
+    a.del('a')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newOrderedTable
+    a.del('z')
+    doAssert a == {'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newOrderedTable
+  t[].del(key)
 
-proc newOrderedTable*[A, B](pairs: openArray[(A, B)]): OrderedTableRef[A, B] =
-  ## creates a new ordered hash table that contains the given ``pairs``.
-  result = newOrderedTable[A, B](rightSize(pairs.len))
-  for key, val in items(pairs): result.add(key, val)
+proc clear*[A, B](t: var OrderedTableRef[A, B]) =
+  ## Resets the table so that it is empty.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `del proc<#del,OrderedTable[A,B],A>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert len(a) == 3
+    clear(a)
+    doAssert len(a) == 0
+  clear(t[])
+
+proc sort*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], cmp: proc (x,y: (A, B)): int) =
+  ## Sorts ``t`` according to the function ``cmp``.
+  ##
+  ## This modifies the internal list
+  ## that kept the insertion order, so insertion order is lost after this
+  ## call but key lookup and insertions remain possible after ``sort`` (in
+  ## contrast to the `sort proc<#sort,CountTableRef[A]>`_ for count tables).
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = newOrderedTable[char, int]()
+    for i, c in "cab":
+      a[c] = 10*i
+    doAssert a == {'c': 0, 'a': 10, 'b': 20}.newOrderedTable
+    a.sort(system.cmp)
+    doAssert a == {'a': 10, 'b': 20, 'c': 0}.newOrderedTable
+  t[].sort(cmp)
 
 proc `$`*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): string =
-  ## The ``$`` operator for ordered hash tables.
+  ## The ``$`` operator for hash tables. Used internally when calling `echo`
+  ## on a table.
   dollarImpl()
 
 proc `==`*[A, B](s, t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): bool =
-  ## The ``==`` operator for ordered hash tables. Returns true iff either both
-  ## tables are ``nil`` or none is ``nil`` and the content and the order of
+  ## The ``==`` operator for ordered hash tables. Returns true if either both
+  ## tables are ``nil``, or neither is ``nil`` and the content and the order of
   ## both are equal.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = {'a': 5, 'b': 9, 'c': 13}.newOrderedTable
+      b = {'b': 9, 'c': 13, 'a': 5}.newOrderedTable
+    doAssert a != b
   if isNil(s): result = isNil(t)
   elif isNil(t): result = false
   else: result = s[] == t[]
 
-proc sort*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B], cmp: proc (x,y: (A, B)): int) =
-  ## sorts ``t`` according to ``cmp``. This modifies the internal list
-  ## that kept the insertion order, so insertion order is lost after this
-  ## call but key lookup and insertions remain possible after ``sort`` (in
-  ## contrast to the ``sort`` for count tables).
-  t[].sort(cmp)
-
-proc del*[A, B](t: var OrderedTable[A, B], key: A) =
-  ## deletes ``key`` from ordered hash table ``t``. O(n) complexity. Does nothing
-  ## if the key does not exist.
-  var n: OrderedKeyValuePairSeq[A, B]
-  newSeq(n, len(t.data))
-  var h = t.first
-  t.first = -1
-  t.last = -1
-  swap(t.data, n)
-  let hc = genHash(key)
-  while h >= 0:
-    var nxt = n[h].next
-    if isFilled(n[h].hcode):
-      if n[h].hcode == hc and n[h].key == key:
-        dec t.counter
-      else:
-        var j = -1 - rawGetKnownHC(t, n[h].key, n[h].hcode)
-        rawInsert(t, t.data, n[h].key, n[h].val, n[h].hcode, j)
-    h = nxt
-
-proc del*[A, B](t: var OrderedTableRef[A, B], key: A) =
-  ## deletes ``key`` from ordered hash table ``t``. O(n) complexity.  Does nothing
-  ## if the key does not exist.
-  t[].del(key)
-
-# ------------------------------ count tables -------------------------------
-
-type
-  CountTable* [
-      A] = object ## table that counts the number of each key
-    data: seq[tuple[key: A, val: int]]
-    counter: int
-  CountTableRef*[A] = ref CountTable[A]
-
-proc len*[A](t: CountTable[A]): int =
-  ## returns the number of keys in ``t``.
-  result = t.counter
 
-proc clear*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]) =
-  ## resets the table so that it is empty.
-  clearImpl()
 
-proc clear*[A](t: var CountTable[A]) =
-  ## resets the table so that it is empty.
-  clearImpl()
+iterator pairs*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): (A, B) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
+  ## order.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   let a = {
+  ##     'o': [1, 5, 7, 9],
+  ##     'e': [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  ##     }.newOrderedTable
+  ##
+  ##   for k, v in a.pairs:
+  ##     echo "key: ", k
+  ##     echo "value: ", v
+  ##
+  ##   # key: o
+  ##   # value: [1, 5, 7, 9]
+  ##   # key: e
+  ##   # value: [2, 4, 6, 8]
+  forAllOrderedPairs:
+    yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator pairs*[A](t: CountTable[A]): (A, int) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
+iterator mpairs*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): (A, var B) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` in insertion
+  ## order. The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newOrderedTable
+    for k, v in a.mpairs:
+      v.add(v[0] + 10)
+    doAssert a == {'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 11], 'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 12]}.newOrderedTable
+  forAllOrderedPairs:
+    yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator mpairs*[A](t: var CountTable[A]): (A, var int) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``. The values can
-  ## be modified.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
+iterator keys*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): A =
+  ## Iterates over any key in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newOrderedTable
+    for k in a.keys:
+      a[k].add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99], 'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99]}.newOrderedTable
+  forAllOrderedPairs:
+    yield t.data[h].key
 
-iterator keys*[A](t: CountTable[A]): A =
-  ## iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].key
+iterator values*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newOrderedTable
+    for v in a.values:
+      doAssert v.len == 4
+  forAllOrderedPairs:
+    yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator values*[A](t: CountTable[A]): int =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].val
+iterator mvalues*[A, B](t: OrderedTableRef[A, B]): var B =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` in insertion order. The values
+  ## can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,OrderedTableRef[A,B]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = {
+      'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9],
+      'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8]
+      }.newOrderedTable
+    for v in a.mvalues:
+      v.add(99)
+    doAssert a == {'o': @[1, 5, 7, 9, 99], 'e': @[2, 4, 6, 8, 99]}.newOrderedTable
+  forAllOrderedPairs:
+    yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator mvalues*[A](t: CountTable[A]): var int =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``. The values can be modified.
-  for h in 0..high(t.data):
-    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].val
 
-proc rawGet[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): int =
-  var h: Hash = hash(key) and high(t.data) # start with real hash value
-  while t.data[h].val != 0:
-    if t.data[h].key == key: return h
-    h = nextTry(h, high(t.data))
-  result = -1 - h                   # < 0 => MISSING; insert idx = -1 - result
 
-template ctget(t, key: untyped): untyped =
-  var index = rawGet(t, key)
-  if index >= 0: result = t.data[index].val
-  else:
-    when compiles($key):
-      raise newException(KeyError, "key not found: " & $key)
-    else:
-      raise newException(KeyError, "key not found")
 
-proc `[]`*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): int {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. If ``key`` is not in ``t``,
-  ## the ``KeyError`` exception is raised. One can check with ``hasKey``
-  ## whether the key exists.
-  ctget(t, key)
 
-proc `[]`*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A): var int {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ctget(t, key)
 
-proc mget*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A): var int {.deprecated.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ## Use ``[]`` instead.
-  ctget(t, key)
 
-proc getOrDefault*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): int =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, 0 (the
-  ## default initialization value of ``int``), is returned.
-  var index = rawGet(t, key)
-  if index >= 0: result = t.data[index].val
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ------------------------------ CountTable -------------------------------
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-proc getOrDefault*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A, default: int): int =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
-  ## integer value of ``default`` is returned.
-  var index = rawGet(t, key)
-  result = if index >= 0: t.data[index].val else: default
+type
+  CountTable* [A] = object
+    ## Hash table that counts the number of each key.
+    ##
+    ## For creating an empty CountTable, use `initCountTable proc
+    ## <#initCountTable,int>`_.
+    data: seq[tuple[key: A, val: int]]
+    counter: int
+  CountTableRef*[A] = ref CountTable[A] ## Ref version of
+    ## `CountTable<#CountTable>`_.
+    ##
+    ## For creating a new empty CountTableRef, use `newCountTable proc
+    ## <#newCountTable,int>`_.
 
-proc hasKey*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
-  result = rawGet(t, key) >= 0
 
-proc contains*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): bool =
-  ## Alias of ``hasKey`` for use with the ``in`` operator.
-  return hasKey[A](t, key)
+# ------------------------------ helpers ---------------------------------
 
 proc rawInsert[A](t: CountTable[A], data: var seq[tuple[key: A, val: int]],
                   key: A, val: int) =
@@ -993,22 +2050,87 @@ proc enlarge[A](t: var CountTable[A]) =
     if t.data[i].val != 0: rawInsert(t, n, t.data[i].key, t.data[i].val)
   swap(t.data, n)
 
+proc rawGet[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): int =
+  var h: Hash = hash(key) and high(t.data) # start with real hash value
+  while t.data[h].val != 0:
+    if t.data[h].key == key: return h
+    h = nextTry(h, high(t.data))
+  result = -1 - h                   # < 0 => MISSING; insert idx = -1 - result
+
+template ctget(t, key, default: untyped): untyped =
+  var index = rawGet(t, key)
+  result = if index >= 0: t.data[index].val else: default
+
+proc inc*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A, val = 1)
+
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+proc initCountTable*[A](initialSize=64): CountTable[A] =
+  ## Creates a new count table that is empty.
+  ##
+  ## ``initialSize`` must be a power of two (default: 64).
+  ## If you need to accept runtime values for this you could use the
+  ## `nextPowerOfTwo proc<math.html#nextPowerOfTwo,int>`_ from the
+  ## `math module<math.html>`_ or the `rightSize proc<#rightSize,Natural>`_
+  ## from this module.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `toCountTable proc<#toCountTable,openArray[A]>`_
+  ## * `newCountTable proc<#newCountTable,int>`_ for creating a
+  ##   `CountTableRef`
+  assert isPowerOfTwo(initialSize)
+  result.counter = 0
+  newSeq(result.data, initialSize)
+
+proc toCountTable*[A](keys: openArray[A]): CountTable[A] =
+  ## Creates a new count table with every member of a container ``keys``
+  ## having a count of how many times it occurs in that container.
+  result = initCountTable[A](rightSize(keys.len))
+  for key in items(keys): result.inc(key)
+
+proc `[]`*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): int =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``.
+  ## Otherwise ``0`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault<#getOrDefault,CountTable[A],A,int>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `mget proc<#mget,CountTable[A],A>`_
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]%3D,CountTable[A],A,int>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,CountTable[A],A>`_ for checking if a key
+  ##   is in the table
+  ctget(t, key, 0)
+
+proc mget*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A): var int =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  get(t, key)
+
 proc `[]=`*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A, val: int) =
-  ## puts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ## Inserts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],CountTable[A],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `inc proc<#inc,CountTable[A],A,int>`_ for incrementing a
+  ##   value of a key
   assert val >= 0
-  var h = rawGet(t, key)
+  let h = rawGet(t, key)
   if h >= 0:
     t.data[h].val = val
   else:
     if mustRehash(len(t.data), t.counter): enlarge(t)
     rawInsert(t, t.data, key, val)
     inc(t.counter)
-    #h = -1 - h
-    #t.data[h].key = key
-    #t.data[h].val = val
 
 proc inc*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A, val = 1) =
-  ## increments ``t[key]`` by ``val``.
+  ## Increments ``t[key]`` by ``val`` (default: 1).
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = toCountTable("aab")
+    a.inc('a')
+    a.inc('b', 10)
+    doAssert a == toCountTable("aaabbbbbbbbbbb")
   var index = rawGet(t, key)
   if index >= 0:
     inc(t.data[index].val, val)
@@ -1018,33 +2140,11 @@ proc inc*[A](t: var CountTable[A], key: A, val = 1) =
     rawInsert(t, t.data, key, val)
     inc(t.counter)
 
-proc initCountTable*[A](initialSize=64): CountTable[A] =
-  ## creates a new count table that is empty.
-  ##
-  ## ``initialSize`` needs to be a power of two. If you need to accept runtime
-  ## values for this you could use the ``nextPowerOfTwo`` proc from the
-  ## `math <math.html>`_ module or the ``rightSize`` proc in this module.
-  assert isPowerOfTwo(initialSize)
-  result.counter = 0
-  newSeq(result.data, initialSize)
-
-proc toCountTable*[A](keys: openArray[A]): CountTable[A] =
-  ## creates a new count table with every key in ``keys`` having a count
-  ## of how many times it occurs in ``keys``.
-  result = initCountTable[A](rightSize(keys.len))
-  for key in items(keys): result.inc(key)
-
-proc `$`*[A](t: CountTable[A]): string =
-  ## The ``$`` operator for count tables.
-  dollarImpl()
-
-proc `==`*[A](s, t: CountTable[A]): bool =
-  ## The ``==`` operator for count tables. Returns ``true`` iff both tables
-  ## contain the same keys with the same count. Insert order does not matter.
-  equalsImpl(s, t)
-
 proc smallest*[A](t: CountTable[A]): tuple[key: A, val: int] =
-  ## returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the smallest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
+  ## Returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the smallest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `largest proc<#largest,CountTable[A]>`_
   assert t.len > 0
   var minIdx = -1
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
@@ -1054,7 +2154,10 @@ proc smallest*[A](t: CountTable[A]): tuple[key: A, val: int] =
   result.val = t.data[minIdx].val
 
 proc largest*[A](t: CountTable[A]): tuple[key: A, val: int] =
-  ## returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the largest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
+  ## Returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the largest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `smallest proc<#smallest,CountTable[A]>`_
   assert t.len > 0
   var maxIdx = 0
   for h in 1..high(t.data):
@@ -1062,11 +2165,49 @@ proc largest*[A](t: CountTable[A]): tuple[key: A, val: int] =
   result.key = t.data[maxIdx].key
   result.val = t.data[maxIdx].val
 
+proc hasKey*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `contains proc<#contains,CountTable[A],A>`_ for use with the `in`
+  ##   operator
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],CountTable[A],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,CountTable[A],A,int>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  result = rawGet(t, key) >= 0
+
+proc contains*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A): bool =
+  ## Alias of `hasKey proc<#hasKey,CountTable[A],A>`_ for use with
+  ## the ``in`` operator.
+  return hasKey[A](t, key)
+
+proc getOrDefault*[A](t: CountTable[A], key: A; default: int = 0): int =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
+  ## integer value of ``default`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],CountTable[A],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,CountTable[A],A>`_ for checking if a key
+  ##   is in the table
+  ctget(t, key, default)
+
+proc len*[A](t: CountTable[A]): int =
+  ## Returns the number of keys in ``t``.
+  result = t.counter
+
+proc clear*[A](t: var CountTable[A]) =
+  ## Resets the table so that it is empty.
+  clearImpl()
+
 proc sort*[A](t: var CountTable[A]) =
-  ## sorts the count table so that the entry with the highest counter comes
-  ## first. This is destructive! You must not modify ``t`` afterwards!
-  ## You can use the iterators ``pairs``, ``keys``, and ``values`` to iterate over
-  ## ``t`` in the sorted order.
+  ## Sorts the count table so that the entry with the highest counter comes
+  ## first.
+  ##
+  ## **This is destructive! You must not modify ``t`` afterwards!**
+  ##
+  ## You can use the iterators `pairs<#pairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_,
+  ## `keys<#keys.i,CountTable[A]>`_, and `values<#values.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## to iterate over ``t`` in the sorted order.
 
   # we use shellsort here; fast enough and simple
   var h = 1
@@ -1083,131 +2224,373 @@ proc sort*[A](t: var CountTable[A]) =
         if j < h: break
     if h == 1: break
 
-proc len*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): int =
-  ## returns the number of keys in ``t``.
-  result = t.counter
+proc merge*[A](s: var CountTable[A], t: CountTable[A]) =
+  ## Merges the second table into the first one (must be declared as `var`).
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = toCountTable("aaabbc")
+    let b = toCountTable("bcc")
+    a.merge(b)
+    doAssert a == toCountTable("aaabbbccc")
+  for key, value in t:
+    s.inc(key, value)
 
-iterator pairs*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, int) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
+proc merge*[A](s, t: CountTable[A]): CountTable[A] =
+  ## Merges the two tables into a new one.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = toCountTable("aaabbc")
+      b = toCountTable("bcc")
+    doAssert merge(a, b) == toCountTable("aaabbbccc")
+  result = initCountTable[A](nextPowerOfTwo(max(s.len, t.len)))
+  for table in @[s, t]:
+    for key, value in table:
+      result.inc(key, value)
+
+proc `$`*[A](t: CountTable[A]): string =
+  ## The ``$`` operator for count tables. Used internally when calling `echo`
+  ## on a table.
+  dollarImpl()
+
+proc `==`*[A](s, t: CountTable[A]): bool =
+  ## The ``==`` operator for count tables. Returns ``true`` if both tables
+  ## contain the same keys with the same count. Insert order does not matter.
+  equalsImpl(s, t)
+
+
+iterator pairs*[A](t: CountTable[A]): (A, int) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   let a = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+  ##
+  ##   for k, v in pairs(a):
+  ##     echo "key: ", k
+  ##     echo "value: ", v
+  ##
+  ##   # key: a
+  ##   # value: 5
+  ##   # key: b
+  ##   # value: 2
+  ##   # key: c
+  ##   # value: 1
+  ##   # key: d
+  ##   # value: 1
+  ##   # key: r
+  ##   # value: 2
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if t.data[h].val != 0: yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator mpairs*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, var int) =
-  ## iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``. The values can
-  ## be modified.
+iterator mpairs*[A](t: var CountTable[A]): (A, var int) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t`` (must be
+  ## declared as `var`). The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for k, v in mpairs(a):
+      v = 2
+    doAssert a == toCountTable("aabbccddrr")
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if t.data[h].val != 0: yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-iterator keys*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): A =
-  ## iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
+iterator keys*[A](t: CountTable[A]): A =
+  ## Iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for k in keys(a):
+      a[k] = 2
+    doAssert a == toCountTable("aabbccddrr")
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].key
 
-iterator values*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): int =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
+iterator values*[A](t: CountTable[A]): int =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for v in values(a):
+      assert v < 10
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].val
 
-iterator mvalues*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): var int =
-  ## iterates over any value in the table ``t``. The values can be modified.
+iterator mvalues*[A](t: var CountTable[A]): var int =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t`` (must be
+  ## declared as `var`). The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for v in mvalues(a):
+      v = 2
+    doAssert a == toCountTable("aabbccddrr")
   for h in 0..high(t.data):
     if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].val
 
-proc `[]`*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): var int {.deprecatedGet.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  result = t[][key]
 
-proc mget*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): var int {.deprecated.} =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
-  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
-  ## Use ``[]`` instead.
-  result = t[][key]
 
-proc getOrDefault*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): int =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, 0 (the
-  ## default initialization value of ``int``), is returned.
-  result = t[].getOrDefault(key)
 
-proc getOrDefault*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, default: int): int =
-  ## retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` iff ``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
-  ## integer value of ``default`` is returned.
-  result = t[].getOrDefault(key, default)
 
-proc hasKey*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): bool =
-  ## returns true iff ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
-  result = t[].hasKey(key)
 
-proc contains*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): bool =
-  ## Alias of ``hasKey`` for use with the ``in`` operator.
-  return hasKey[A](t, key)
 
-proc `[]=`*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, val: int) =
-  ## puts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``. ``val`` has to be positive.
-  assert val > 0
-  t[][key] = val
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ---------------------------- CountTableRef --------------------------------
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-proc inc*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, val = 1) =
-  ## increments ``t[key]`` by ``val``.
-  t[].inc(key, val)
+proc inc*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, val = 1)
 
 proc newCountTable*[A](initialSize=64): CountTableRef[A] =
-  ## creates a new count table that is empty.
+  ## Creates a new ref count table that is empty.
+  ##
+  ## ``initialSize`` must be a power of two (default: 64).
+  ## If you need to accept runtime values for this you could use the
+  ## `nextPowerOfTwo proc<math.html#nextPowerOfTwo,int>`_ from the
+  ## `math module<math.html>`_ or the `rightSize proc<#rightSize,Natural>`_
+  ## from this module.
   ##
-  ## ``initialSize`` needs to be a power of two. If you need to accept runtime
-  ## values for this you could use the ``nextPowerOfTwo`` proc from the
-  ## `math <math.html>`_ module or the ``rightSize`` method in this module.
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `newCountTable proc<#newCountTable,openArray[A]>`_ for creating
+  ##   a `CountTableRef` from a collection
+  ## * `initCountTable proc<#initCountTable,int>`_ for creating a
+  ##   `CountTable`
   new(result)
   result[] = initCountTable[A](initialSize)
 
 proc newCountTable*[A](keys: openArray[A]): CountTableRef[A] =
-  ## creates a new count table with every key in ``keys`` having a count
-  ## of how many times it occurs in ``keys``.
+  ## Creates a new ref count table with every member of a container ``keys``
+  ## having a count of how many times it occurs in that container.
   result = newCountTable[A](rightSize(keys.len))
   for key in items(keys): result.inc(key)
 
+proc `[]`*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): int =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if ``key`` is in ``t``.
+  ## Otherwise ``0`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `getOrDefault<#getOrDefault,CountTableRef[A],A,int>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  ## * `mget proc<#mget,CountTableRef[A],A>`_
+  ## * `[]= proc<#[]%3D,CountTableRef[A],A,int>`_ for inserting a new
+  ##   (key, value) pair in the table
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for checking if a key
+  ##   is in the table
+  result = t[][key]
+
+proc mget*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): var int =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]``. The value can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## If ``key`` is not in ``t``, the ``KeyError`` exception is raised.
+  mget(t[], key)
+
+proc `[]=`*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, val: int) =
+  ## Inserts a ``(key, value)`` pair into ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `inc proc<#inc,CountTableRef[A],A,int>`_ for incrementing a
+  ##   value of a key
+  assert val > 0
+  t[][key] = val
+
+proc inc*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, val = 1) =
+  ## Increments ``t[key]`` by ``val`` (default: 1).
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = newCountTable("aab")
+    a.inc('a')
+    a.inc('b', 10)
+    doAssert a == newCountTable("aaabbbbbbbbbbb")
+  t[].inc(key, val)
+
+proc smallest*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, int) =
+  ## Returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the smallest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `largest proc<#largest,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  t[].smallest
+
+proc largest*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, int) =
+  ## Returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the largest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `smallest proc<#smallest,CountTable[A]>`_
+  t[].largest
+
+proc hasKey*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): bool =
+  ## Returns true if ``key`` is in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `contains proc<#contains,CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for use with the `in`
+  ##   operator
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `getOrDefault proc<#getOrDefault,CountTableRef[A],A,int>`_ to return
+  ##   a custom value if the key doesn't exist
+  result = t[].hasKey(key)
+
+proc contains*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A): bool =
+  ## Alias of `hasKey proc<#hasKey,CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for use with
+  ## the ``in`` operator.
+  return hasKey[A](t, key)
+
+proc getOrDefault*[A](t: CountTableRef[A], key: A, default: int): int =
+  ## Retrieves the value at ``t[key]`` if``key`` is in ``t``. Otherwise, the
+  ## integer value of ``default`` is returned.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `[] proc<#[],CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for retrieving a value of a key
+  ## * `hasKey proc<#hasKey,CountTableRef[A],A>`_ for checking if a key
+  ##   is in the table
+  result = t[].getOrDefault(key, default)
+
+proc len*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): int =
+  ## Returns the number of keys in ``t``.
+  result = t.counter
+
+proc clear*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]) =
+  ## Resets the table so that it is empty.
+  clearImpl()
+
+proc sort*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]) =
+  ## Sorts the count table so that the entry with the highest counter comes
+  ## first.
+  ##
+  ## **This is destructive! You must not modify `t` afterwards!**
+  ##
+  ## You can use the iterators `pairs<#pairs.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_,
+  ## `keys<#keys.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_, and `values<#values.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## to iterate over ``t`` in the sorted order.
+  t[].sort
+
+proc merge*[A](s, t: CountTableRef[A]) =
+  ## Merges the second table into the first one.
+  runnableExamples:
+    let
+      a = newCountTable("aaabbc")
+      b = newCountTable("bcc")
+    a.merge(b)
+    doAssert a == newCountTable("aaabbbccc")
+  s[].merge(t[])
+
 proc `$`*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): string =
-  ## The ``$`` operator for count tables.
+  ## The ``$`` operator for count tables. Used internally when calling `echo`
+  ## on a table.
   dollarImpl()
 
 proc `==`*[A](s, t: CountTableRef[A]): bool =
-  ## The ``==`` operator for count tables. Returns ``true`` iff either both tables
-  ## are ``nil`` or none is ``nil`` and both contain the same keys with the same
+  ## The ``==`` operator for count tables. Returns ``true`` if either both tables
+  ## are ``nil``, or neither is ``nil`` and both contain the same keys with the same
   ## count. Insert order does not matter.
   if isNil(s): result = isNil(t)
   elif isNil(t): result = false
   else: result = s[] == t[]
 
-proc smallest*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, int) =
-  ## returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the smallest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
-  t[].smallest
 
-proc largest*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, int) =
-  ## returns the ``(key, value)`` pair with the largest ``val``. Efficiency: O(n)
-  t[].largest
+iterator pairs*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, int) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ##
+  ## **Examples:**
+  ##
+  ## .. code-block::
+  ##   let a = newCountTable("abracadabra")
+  ##
+  ##   for k, v in pairs(a):
+  ##     echo "key: ", k
+  ##     echo "value: ", v
+  ##
+  ##   # key: a
+  ##   # value: 5
+  ##   # key: b
+  ##   # value: 2
+  ##   # key: c
+  ##   # value: 1
+  ##   # key: d
+  ##   # value: 1
+  ##   # key: r
+  ##   # value: 2
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
 
-proc sort*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]) =
-  ## sorts the count table so that the entry with the highest counter comes
-  ## first. This is destructive! You must not modify ``t`` afterwards!
-  ## You can use the iterators ``pairs``, ``keys``, and ``values`` to iterate over
-  ## ``t`` in the sorted order.
-  t[].sort
+iterator mpairs*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): (A, var int) =
+  ## Iterates over any ``(key, value)`` pair in the table ``t``. The values can
+  ## be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = newCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for k, v in mpairs(a):
+      v = 2
+    doAssert a == newCountTable("aabbccddrr")
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield (t.data[h].key, t.data[h].val)
+
+iterator keys*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): A =
+  ## Iterates over any key in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,CountTable[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = newCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for k in keys(a):
+      a[k] = 2
+    doAssert a == newCountTable("aabbccddrr")
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].key
+
+iterator values*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): int =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t``.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `pairs iterator<#pairs.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## * `keys iterator<#keys.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## * `mvalues iterator<#mvalues.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    let a = newCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for v in values(a):
+      assert v < 10
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].val
+
+iterator mvalues*[A](t: CountTableRef[A]): var int =
+  ## Iterates over any value in the table ``t``. The values can be modified.
+  ##
+  ## See also:
+  ## * `mpairs iterator<#mpairs.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  ## * `values iterator<#values.i,CountTableRef[A]>`_
+  runnableExamples:
+    var a = newCountTable("abracadabra")
+    for v in mvalues(a):
+      v = 2
+    doAssert a == newCountTable("aabbccddrr")
+  for h in 0..high(t.data):
+    if t.data[h].val != 0: yield t.data[h].val
 
-proc merge*[A](s: var CountTable[A], t: CountTable[A]) =
-  ## merges the second table into the first one.
-  for key, value in t:
-    s.inc(key, value)
 
-proc merge*[A](s, t: CountTable[A]): CountTable[A] =
-  ## merges the two tables into a new one.
-  result = initCountTable[A](nextPowerOfTwo(max(s.len, t.len)))
-  for table in @[s, t]:
-    for key, value in table:
-      result.inc(key, value)
 
-proc merge*[A](s, t: CountTableRef[A]) =
-  ## merges the second table into the first one.
-  s[].merge(t[])
 
 when isMainModule:
   type
@@ -1325,9 +2708,9 @@ when isMainModule:
     #test_counttable.nim(7, 43) template/generic instantiation from here
     #lib/pure/collections/tables.nim(117, 21) template/generic instantiation from here
     #lib/pure/collections/tableimpl.nim(32, 27) Error: undeclared field: 'hcode
-    doAssert 0 == t.getOrDefault(testKey)
+    doAssert 0 == t[testKey]
     t.inc(testKey, 3)
-    doAssert 3 == t.getOrDefault(testKey)
+    doAssert 3 == t[testKey]
 
   block:
     # Clear tests
@@ -1394,6 +2777,18 @@ when isMainModule:
     let t = toCountTable([0, 0, 5, 5, 5])
     doAssert t.smallest == (0, 2)
 
+  block: #10065
+    let t = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+    doAssert t['z'] == 0
+
+    var t_mut = toCountTable("abracadabra")
+    doAssert t_mut['z'] == 0
+    # the previous read may not have modified the table.
+    doAssert t_mut.hasKey('z') == false
+    t_mut['z'] = 1
+    doAssert t_mut['z'] == 1
+    doAssert t_mut.hasKey('z') == true
+
   block:
     var tp: Table[string, string] = initTable[string, string]()
     doAssert "test1" == tp.getOrDefault("test1", "test1")