code: public static Object findMapValueByKey(Object key, Map<?, ?> map,
  	Object defaultValue)
  	{
  		if (key == null || map == null)
  			return defaultValue;
  
  		Object value = map.get(key);
  
  		if (value == null)
  			return defaultValue;
  
  		return value;
  	}
docs: Find the value with a given key in the map.
  
  @param key
  the map key
  @param map
  the map with key/value pairs
  @param defaultValue
  this is returned if the value is now found
  @return the single value found