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  1. Python dictionary - basics;
  2. Copying/Merging two dictionaries;
  3. Dictionary sorting;

Dictionary in Python is an unsorted collection of key / value pairs. Dictionary in Python ideologically are very similar to hash in Perl

How to use dictionary element

The simplest way is to use value for given key in the dictionary is to call this key in square brakes. But if this key is not existing – then Fatal error will be called:


dic = {'a':0, 'b':1, 'c':2}
print(dic["c"]) # 2
print(dic["d"]) # KeyError: 'd'

To avoid this error, you can use method get(), which will give None if the key is absent


dic = {'a':0, 'b':1, 'c':2}
print(dic.get("b")) # 1
print(dic.get("d")) # None - no fatal error

Default value for absent element

Pretty common task for dictionary – make a counter for objects. For this make a key for every object and increase value accordingly. But the default value for absent key will make this taks a bit easier. Let's consider very simple task – make word popularity in the list.


counter = {}
words = ['aaa', 'bbb', 'aaa', 'ccc', 'bbb', 'ccc']
for word in words:
    counter[word] = counter.get(word, 0) + 1
    # {'aaa': 2, 'bbb': 2, 'ccc': 2}

dictionary with key “word” equal value of “word” + 1 for every new word. But is this key is not existing method .get() return default value “0” and Error is not risen.

How to add and remove element to dictionary in Python

How to Check if a given key already exists in a dictionary

Perform any action with the dictionary with non-existent key will finish with an error. Therefore it is a good idea to check of presence of the key


k = 'aad'
d  = {'aaa': 14, 'aab': 13, 'aac': 12}
if k in d.keys():
    print(k, "is present")
else:
    print(k, "is absent")   # aad is absent

How to remove element in dictionary by key

Removing element in dictionary is very simple. You need to know the key of element you would like to delete and use function del()


d  = {'aaa': 14, 'aab': 13, 'aac': 12}
print(d)        # {'aaa': 14, 'aab': 13, 'aac': 12}
del(d['aab'])
print(d)        # {'aaa': 14, 'aac': 12}

It is better to check the presence of the key before removal, to make sure that the program will not crash in case of absent key


k = 'aac'
d  = {'aaa': 14, 'aab': 13, 'aac': 12}
if k in d.keys():
    del(d[k])
print(d)   # {'aaa': 14, 'aab': 13}

How to remove element in dictionary by value

To remove all elements with dictionary with given value, it is easier to use comprehension. In fact we take all pairs from our dictionary and return them back if they values are not equal value prepared for removal


to_remove = 13
d  = {'aaa': 14, 'aab': 13, 'aac': 12}
d = {key:val for key, val in d.items() if val != to_remove}
print(d)                          # {'aaa': 14, 'aac': 12}

How to compare two dictionaries

It is very easy to compare two dictionaries in Python. Use standard operation == for comparison. Please note, that this comparison is also check case for every string component and also it compare type for every element in dictionary


d1  = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3, 'd': 4}
d2  = {'d': 4, 'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}
d3  = {'a': 1, 'b': 2.0, 'C': 3, 'd': 4}
print(d1 == d2)   # True
print(d1 == d3)   # False

How to iterate over dictionary

How to loop over key in dictionary

Very simple and common way of iterations over dictionary is to loop oner key only. In most cases this way of iterations is used


d = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3, 'd': 4}
for k in d:
    d[k] += 1
print(d) # {'a': 2, 'b': 3, 'c': 4, 'd': 5}

How to loop over key / value in dictionary

For more complicated cases it is more convenient to have pair key / value in every iterations


d = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3, 'd': 4}
for k, v in d.items():
    print(v, end=', ') # 1, 2, 3, 4,

But it is necessary to remember, that value is a shallow copy of the dictionary value, therefore:


d1 = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
for k, v in d1.items():
    v = v ** 2 # NOT affecting original dictionary
print(d1) # {'a': 1, 'b': 2}

d2 = {'a': [1, 2], 'b': [3, 4]}
for k, v in d2.items():
    v.append(k) # DO affect original dictionary
print(d2) # {'a': [1, 2, 'a'], 'b': [3, 4, 'b']}

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Published: 2021-10-13 14:31:51
Updated: 2021-10-20 14:27:27

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