Why was a separate type created for Map, if there is a regular object? What is the difference?

Map was created as a separate data type in JavaScript because a regular object has several limitations:

• Keys in objects can only be strings or symbols, whereas in Map, the key can be any type (e.g., objects, functions).
• Map preserves the insertion order of elements, which is not guaranteed in objects.
• Map has convenient methods for working with collections: size, clear(), forEach(), and more efficient operations for adding and removing.
• In objects, prototype properties can affect key handling, which is not the case in Map.

Example of using Map:

const map = new Map();
const objKey = {};
map.set(objKey, 'value associated with object key');
console.log(map.get(objKey)); // 'value associated with object key'

Thus, Map provides a more flexible and convenient structure for associative collections, especially when keys are not limited to strings.