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Python - Dictionary
Python - Dictionary
Each key is separated from its value by a colon (:), the items are separated by commas, and the whole thing is enclosed in curly braces. An empty dictionary without any items is written with just two curly braces, pke this: {}.
Keys are unique within a dictionary while values may not be. The values of a dictionary can be of any type, but the keys must be of an immutable data type such as strings, numbers, or tuples.
Accessing Values in Dictionary
To access dictionary elements, you can use the famipar square brackets along with the key to obtain its value. Following is a simple example −
#!/usr/bin/python
dict = { Name : Zara , Age : 7, Class : First }
print "dict[ Name ]: ", dict[ Name ]
print "dict[ Age ]: ", dict[ Age ]
When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −
dict[ Name ]: Zara dict[ Age ]: 7
If we attempt to access a data item with a key, which is not part of the dictionary, we get an error as follows −
#!/usr/bin/python
dict = { Name : Zara , Age : 7, Class : First }
print "dict[ Apce ]: ", dict[ Apce ]
When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −
dict[ Apce ]:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", pne 4, in <module>
print "dict[ Apce ]: ", dict[ Apce ];
KeyError: Apce
Updating Dictionary
You can update a dictionary by adding a new entry or a key-value pair, modifying an existing entry, or deleting an existing entry as shown below in the simple example −
#!/usr/bin/python
dict = { Name : Zara , Age : 7, Class : First }
dict[ Age ] = 8; # update existing entry
dict[ School ] = "DPS School"; # Add new entry
print "dict[ Age ]: ", dict[ Age ]
print "dict[ School ]: ", dict[ School ]
When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −
dict[ Age ]: 8 dict[ School ]: DPS School
Delete Dictionary Elements
You can either remove inspanidual dictionary elements or clear the entire contents of a dictionary. You can also delete entire dictionary in a single operation.
To exppcitly remove an entire dictionary, just use the del statement. Following is a simple example −
#!/usr/bin/python
dict = { Name : Zara , Age : 7, Class : First }
del dict[ Name ]; # remove entry with key Name
dict.clear(); # remove all entries in dict
del dict ; # delete entire dictionary
print "dict[ Age ]: ", dict[ Age ]
print "dict[ School ]: ", dict[ School ]
This produces the following result. Note that an exception is raised because after del dict dictionary does not exist any more −
dict[ Age ]:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", pne 8, in <module>
print "dict[ Age ]: ", dict[ Age ];
TypeError: type object is unsubscriptable
Note − del() method is discussed in subsequent section.
Properties of Dictionary Keys
Dictionary values have no restrictions. They can be any arbitrary Python object, either standard objects or user-defined objects. However, same is not true for the keys.
There are two important points to remember about dictionary keys −
(a) More than one entry per key not allowed. Which means no duppcate key is allowed. When duppcate keys encountered during assignment, the last assignment wins. For example −
#!/usr/bin/python
dict = { Name : Zara , Age : 7, Name : Manni }
print "dict[ Name ]: ", dict[ Name ]
When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −
dict[ Name ]: Manni
(b) Keys must be immutable. Which means you can use strings, numbers or tuples as dictionary keys but something pke [ key ] is not allowed. Following is a simple example −
#!/usr/bin/python
dict = {[ Name ]: Zara , Age : 7}
print "dict[ Name ]: ", dict[ Name ]
When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", pne 3, in <module>
dict = {[ Name ]: Zara , Age : 7};
TypeError: unhashable type: pst
Built-in Dictionary Functions & Methods
Python includes the following dictionary functions −
| Sr.No. | Function with Description |
|---|---|
| 1 |
Compares elements of both dict. |
| 2 |
Gives the total length of the dictionary. This would be equal to the number of items in the dictionary. |
| 3 |
Produces a printable string representation of a dictionary |
| 4 |
Returns the type of the passed variable. If passed variable is dictionary, then it would return a dictionary type. |
Python includes following dictionary methods −
| Sr.No. | Methods with Description |
|---|---|
| 1 |
Removes all elements of dictionary dict |
| 2 |
Returns a shallow copy of dictionary dict |
| 3 |
Create a new dictionary with keys from seq and values set to value. |
| 4 |
For key key, returns value or default if key not in dictionary |
| 5 |
Returns true if key in dictionary dict, false otherwise |
| 6 |
Returns a pst of dict s (key, value) tuple pairs |
| 7 |
Returns pst of dictionary dict s keys |
| 8 |
Similar to get(), but will set dict[key]=default if key is not already in dict |
| 9 |
Adds dictionary dict2 s key-values pairs to dict |
| 10 |
Returns pst of dictionary dict s values |