Dictionaries
Accessing and writing data in a Python dictionary
Values in a Python dictionary can be accessed by placing the key within square brackets next to the dictionary. Values can be written by placing key within square brackets next to the dictionary and using the assignment operator (=). If the key already exists, the old value will be overwritten. Attempting to access a value with a key that does not exist will cause a KeyError.
To illustrate this review card, the second line of the example code block shows the way to access the value using the key "song". The third line of the code block overwrites the value that corresponds to the key "song".
my_dictionary = {"song": "Estranged", "artist": "Guns N' Roses"}print(my_dictionary["song"])my_dictionary["song"] = "Paradise City"
Syntax of the Python dictionary
The syntax for a Python dictionary begins with the left curly brace ({), ends with the right curly brace (}), and contains zero or more key : value items separated by commas (,). The key is separated from the value by a colon (:).
roaster = {"q1": "Ashley", "q2": "Dolly"}
Merging dictionaries with the .update() method in Python
Given two dictionaries that need to be combined, Python makes this easy with the .update() function.
For dict1.update(dict2), the key-value pairs of dict2 will be written into the dict1 dictionary.
For keys in both dict1 and dict2, the value in dict1 will be overwritten by the corresponding value in dict2.
dict1 = {'color': 'blue', 'shape': 'circle'}dict2 = {'color': 'red', 'number': 42}dict1.update(dict2)# dict1 is now {'color': 'red', 'shape': 'circle', 'number': 42}
Dictionary value types
Python allows the values in a dictionary to be any type – string, integer, a list, another dictionary, boolean, etc. However, keys must always be an immutable data type, such as strings, numbers, or tuples.
In the example code block, you can see that the keys are strings or numbers (int or float). The values, on the other hand, are many varied data types.
dictionary = {1: 'hello','two': True,'3': [1, 2, 3],'Four': {'fun': 'addition'},5.0: 5.5}
Python dictionaries
A python dictionary is an unordered collection of items. It contains data as a set of key: value pairs.
my_dictionary = {1: "L.A. Lakers", 2: "Houston Rockets"}
Dictionary Key-Value Methods
When trying to look at the information in a Python dictionary, there are multiple methods that return objects that contain the dictionary keys and values.
.keys()returns the keys through adict_keysobject..values()returns the values through adict_valuesobject..items()returns both the keys and values through adict_itemsobject.
ex_dict = {"a": "anteater", "b": "bumblebee", "c": "cheetah"}ex_dict.keys()# dict_keys(["a","b","c"])ex_dict.values()# dict_values(["anteater", "bumblebee", "cheetah"])ex_dict.items()# dict_items([("a","anteater"),("b","bumblebee"),("c","cheetah")])
get() Method for Dictionary
Python provides a .get() method to access a dictionary value if it exists. This method takes the key as the first argument and an optional default value as the second argument, and it returns the value for the specified key if key is in the dictionary. If the second argument is not specified and key is not found then None is returned.
# without default{"name": "Victor"}.get("name")# returns "Victor"{"name": "Victor"}.get("nickname")# returns None# with default{"name": "Victor"}.get("nickname", "nickname is not a key")# returns "nickname is not a key"
The .pop() Method for Dictionaries in Python
Python dictionaries can remove key-value pairs with the .pop() method. The method takes a key as an argument and removes it from the dictionary. At the same time, it also returns the value that it removes from the dictionary.
famous_museums = {'Washington': 'Smithsonian Institution', 'Paris': 'Le Louvre', 'Athens': 'The Acropolis Museum'}famous_museums.pop('Athens')print(famous_museums) # {'Washington': 'Smithsonian Institution', 'Paris': 'Le Louvre'}
