Add decodeToMap method to directly parse a string into a Map<String, Object>

README.md

@@ -279,7 +279,11 @@ System.out.println(JToon.encode(data, new EncodeOptions(2, Delimiter.PIPE, true,
 
 ### `JToon.decodeToJson(String toon, DecodeOptions options): String`
 
-Converts TOON-formatted strings back to Java objects or JSON.
+### `JToon.decodeToMap(String toon): Map<String, Object>`
+
+### `JToon.decodeToMap(String toon, DecodeOptions options): Map<String, Object>`
+
+Converts TOON-formatted strings back to Java objects, JSON or directly into Map<String, Object>.
 
 **Parameters:**
 
@@ -296,6 +300,8 @@ For `decode`: A Java object (`Map` for objects, `List` for arrays, primitives fo
 
 For `decodeToJson`: A JSON string representation
 
+For `decodeToMap`: A `Map` representing a Java object
+
 **Example:**
 
 ```java
@@ -312,6 +318,9 @@ Object result = JToon.decode(toon);
 
 // Decode directly to JSON string
 String json = JToon.decodeToJson(toon);
+
+// Decode directly to Map<String, Object> (no cast needed)
+Map<String, Object> map = JToon.decodeToMap(toon);
 ```
 
 #### Round-Trip Conversion

src/main/java/dev/toonformat/jtoon/JToon.java

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 import dev.toonformat.jtoon.normalizer.JsonNormalizer;
 import tools.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 
+import java.util.Map;
+
 /**
  * Main entry point for encoding and decoding TOON (Token-Oriented Object Notation) format.
  * Provides static methods to convert between Java objects, JSON strings, and TOON format.
@@ -118,6 +120,57 @@ public static Object decode(String toon, DecodeOptions options) {
         return ValueDecoder.decode(toon, options);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Decodes a TOON-formatted string into a {@code Map<String, Object>} using default options.
+     *
+     * <p>
+     * This method is a convenience wrapper around
+     * {@link #decode(String)} and expects the decoded result to
+     * represent a TOON object. If the decoded value is {@code null} or an invalid {@code String},
+     * an empty map is returned. No deep transformation is applied: the returned map
+     * directly reflects the structure produced by the decoder.
+     * </p>
+     *
+     * <p>
+     * The decoded value must be a {@code Map}; otherwise, a {@link ClassCastException}
+     * will occur due to the unchecked cast.
+     * </p>
+     *
+     * @param toon The TOON-formatted string to decode
+     * @return A {@code Map<String, Object>} representing the decoded TOON object, or an empty map if the
+     *         input decodes to {@code null} or a {@code String}
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if strict mode is enabled and the input is invalid
+     */
+    public static Map<String, Object> decodeToMap(String toon) {
+        return decodeToMap(toon, DecodeOptions.DEFAULT);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Decodes a TOON-formatted string into a {@code Map<String, Object>} using the provided options.
+     *
+     * <p>
+     * This method is a convenience wrapper around
+     * {@link #decode(String, DecodeOptions)} and expects the decoded result to
+     * represent a TOON object. If the decoded value is {@code null} or is not a
+     * {@code Map}, an empty map is returned. No deep transformation is applied:
+     * the returned map directly reflects the structure produced by the decoder.
+     * </p>
+     *
+     * <p>
+     * The decoded value must be a {@code Map}; otherwise, this method returns an
+     * empty map instead of attempting an invalid cast.
+     * </p>
+     *
+     * @param toon    The TOON-formatted string to decode
+     * @param options Decoding options (indentation, delimiters, strict mode)
+     * @return A {@code Map<String, Object>} representing the decoded TOON object, or an empty map
+     *         if the decoded value is {@code null} or not a {@code Map}
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if strict mode is enabled and the input is invalid
+     */
+    public static Map<String, Object> decodeToMap(String toon, DecodeOptions options) {
+        return ValueDecoder.decodeToMap(toon, options);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Decodes a TOON-formatted string directly to a JSON string using default
      * options.