Python Dictionaries

Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection which is unordered, changeable and indexed. In
Python dictionaries are written with curly brackets, and they have keys and
values.

Example
Create and print a dictionary:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
print(thisdict)

Accessing Items
You can access the items of a dictionary by referring to its key name, inside
square brackets:

Example
Get the value of the "model" key:

x = thisdict["model"]

There is also a method called get() that will give you the same result:

Example
Get the value of the "model" key:

x = thisdict.get("model")

1
Change Values
You can change the value of a specific item by referring to its key name:

Example
Change the "year" to 2018:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
thisdict["year"] = 2018

Loop Through a Dictionary

When looping through a dictionary, the return value are the keys of the
dictionary, but there are methods to return the values as well.

Example
Print all key names in the dictionary, one by one:

for x in thisdict:
  print(x)

Example
Print all values in the dictionary, one by one:

for x in thisdict:
  print(thisdict[x])

Example
You can also use the values() method to return values of a dictionary:

for x in thisdict.values():
  print(x)

2
Example
Loop through both keys and values, by using the items() method:

for x, y in thisdict.items():
  print(x, y)

Check if Key Exists

Example
Check if "model" is present in the dictionary:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
if "model" in thisdict:
  print("Yes, 'model' is one of the keys in the thisdict dictionary")

Dictionary Length
To determine how many items (key-value pairs) a dictionary has, use
the len() function.

Example
Print the number of items in the dictionary:

print(len(thisdict))

3
Adding Items
Adding an item to the dictionary is done by using a new index key and
assigning a value to it:

Example
thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
thisdict["color"] = "red"
print(thisdict)

Removing Items
There are several methods to remove items from a dictionary:

Example
The pop() method removes the item with the specified key name:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
thisdict.pop("model")
print(thisdict)

Example
The popitem() method removes the last inserted item (in versions before 3.7,
a random item is removed instead):

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
thisdict.popitem()
print(thisdict)

4
Example
The del keyword removes the item with the specified key name:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
del thisdict["model"]
print(thisdict)

Example
The del keyword can also delete the dictionary completely:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
del thisdict
print(thisdict) #this will cause an error because "thisdict" no longer
exists.

Example
The clear() method empties the dictionary:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
thisdict.clear()
print(thisdict)

5
Copy a Dictionary
You cannot copy a dictionary simply by typing dict2 = dict1,
because: dict2 will only be a reference to dict1, and changes made
in dict1 will automatically also be made in dict2.

There are ways to make a copy, one way is to use the built-in Dictionary
method copy().

Example
Make a copy of a dictionary with the copy() method:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
mydict = thisdict.copy()
print(mydict)

Another way to make a copy is to use the built-in function dict().

Example
Make a copy of a dictionary with the dict() function:

thisdict = {
  "brand": "Ford",
  "model": "Mustang",
  "year": 1964
}
mydict = dict(thisdict)
print(mydict)

6
Nested Dictionaries
A dictionary can also contain many dictionaries, this is called nested
dictionaries.

Example
Create a dictionary that contain three dictionaries:

myfamily = {
  "child1" : {
    "name" : "Emil",
    "year" : 2004
  },
  "child2" : {
    "name" : "Tobias",
    "year" : 2007
  },
  "child3" : {
    "name" : "Linus",
    "year" : 2011
  }
}

Or, if you want to nest three dictionaries that already exists as dictionaries:

Example
Create three dictionaries, then create one dictionary that will contain the
other three dictionaries:

child1 = {
  "name" : "Emil",
  "year" : 2004
}
child2 = {
  "name" : "Tobias",
  "year" : 2007
}
child3 = {
  "name" : "Linus",
  "year" : 2011
}

myfamily = {
  "child1" : child1,
  "child2" : child2,
  "child3" : child3
}

7
The dict() Constructor
It is also possible to use the dict() constructor to make a new dictionary:

Example
thisdict = dict(brand="Ford", model="Mustang", year=1964)
# note that keywords are not string literals
# note the use of equals rather than colon for the assignment
print(thisdict)

Dictionary Methods
Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on dictionaries.

Method Description

clear() Removes all the elements from the dictionary

copy() Returns a copy of the dictionary

fromkeys() Returns a dictionary with the specified keys and value

get() Returns the value of the specified key

items() Returns a list containing a tuple for each key value pair

keys() Returns a list containing the dictionary's keys

8
 pop() Removes the element with the specified key

popitem() Removes the last inserted key-value pair

setdefault( Returns the value of the specified key. If the key does not exist: insert the
) specified value

update() Updates the dictionary with the specified key-value pairs

values() Returns a list of all the values in the dictionary

Test Yourself With Exercises

car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
print( )