Python Programming/Dictionaries

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[edit] About dictionaries in Python

A dictionary in python is a collection of unordered values which are accessed by key.

[edit] Dictionary notation

Dictionaries may be created directly or converted from sequences. Dictionaries are enclosed in curly braces, {}

>>> d = {'city':'Paris', 'age':38, (102,1650,1601):'A matrix coordinate'}
>>> seq = [('city','Paris'), ('age', 38), ((102,1650,1601),'A matrix coordinate')]
>>> d
{'city': 'Paris', 'age': 38, (102, 1650, 1601): 'A matrix coordinate'}
>>> dict(seq)
{'city': 'Paris', 'age': 38, (102, 1650, 1601): 'A matrix coordinate'}
>>> d == dict(seq)
True

Also, dictionaries can be easily created by zipping two sequences.

>>> seq1 = ('a','b','c','d')
>>> seq2 = [1,2,3,4]
>>> d = dict(zip(seq1,seq2))
>>> d
{'a': 1, 'c': 3, 'b': 2, 'd': 4}

[edit] Operations on Dictionaries

The operations on dictionaries are somewhat unique. Slicing is not supported, since the items have no intrinsic order.

>>> d = {'a':1,'b':2, 'cat':'Fluffers'}
>>> d.keys()
['a', 'b', 'cat']
>>> d.values()
[1, 2, 'Fluffers']
>>> d['a']
1
>>> d['cat'] = 'Mr. Whiskers'
>>> d['cat']
'Mr. Whiskers'
>>> d.has_key('cat')
True
>>> d.has_key('dog')
False
>>> 'cat' in d
True

[edit] Combining two Dictionaries

You can combine two dictionaries by using the update method of the primary dictionary. Note that the update method will merge existing elements if they conflict.

>>> d = {'apples': 1, 'oranges': 3, 'pears': 2}
>>> ud = {'pears': 4, 'grapes': 5, 'lemons': 6}
>>> d.update(ud)
>>> d
{'grapes': 5, 'pears': 4, 'lemons': 6, 'apples': 1, 'oranges': 3}
>>>