Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary

With Python, creating and using a dictionary is much like working with a list, except that you must now define a key and value pair. Here are the special rules for creating a key:

• Python Dictionary Get Key Name
• Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary Download
• Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary 2017
• Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary Free
• Python Dictionary Get Keys

The keyList holds the order of your items and you have to go back to it to find out what the next/previous key is to get the next/previous value. You also have to check for i+1 being greater than the list length and i-1 being less than 0.

The key must be unique. When you enter a duplicate key, the information found in the second entry wins — the first entry is simply replaced with the second.

• Python dictionary method keys returns a list of all the available keys in the dictionary. The following example shows the usage of keys method.
• Python File Handling Python Read Files Python Write/Create Files Python Delete Files. Returns a list containing the dictionary's keys: pop Removes the element with the specified key: popitem Removes the last inserted key-value pair. Previous Next.

The key must be immutable. This rule means that you can use strings, numbers, or tuples for the key. You can’t, however, use a list for a key.

You have no restrictions on the values you provide. A value can be any Python object, so you can use a dictionary to access an employee record or other complex data. The following steps help you understand how to use dictionaries better.

1Open a Python Shell window.

You see the familiar Python prompt.

2Type Colors = {“Sam”: “Blue”, “Amy”: “Red”, “Sarah”: “Yellow”} and press Enter.

Python creates a dictionary containing three entries with people’s favorite colors. Notice how you create the key and value pair. The key comes first, followed by a colon and then the value. Each entry is separated by a comma.

3Type Colors and press Enter.

You see the key and value pairs. However, notice that the entries are sorted in key order. A dictionary automatically keeps the keys sorted to make access faster, which means that you get fast search times even when working with a large data set. The downside is that creating the dictionary takes longer than using something like a list because the computer is busy sorting the entries.

4Type Colors[“Sarah”] and press Enter.

You see the color associated with Sarah, Yellow. Using a string as a key, rather than using a numeric index, makes the code easier to read and makes it self-documenting to an extent.

By making your code more readable, dictionaries save you considerable time in the long run (which is why they’re so popular). However, the convenience of a dictionary comes at the cost of additional creation time and a higher use of resources, so you have trade-offs to consider.

5Type Colors.keys( ) and press Enter.

The dictionary presents a list of the keys it contains. You can use these keys to automate access to the dictionary.

6Type the following code (pressing Enter after each line and pressing Enter twice after the last line):

The example code outputs a listing of each of the user names and the user’s favorite color. Using dictionaries can make creating useful output a lot easier. The use of a meaningful key means that the key can easily be part of the output.

7Type Colors[“Sarah”] = “Purple” and press Enter.

The dictionary content is updated so that Sarah now likes Purple instead of Yellow.

8Type Colors.update({“Harry”: “Orange”}) and press Enter.

A new entry is added to the dictionary.

9Place your cursor at the end of the third line of the code you typed in Step 6 and press Enter.

The editor creates a copy of the code for you. This is a time-saving technique that you can use in the Python Shell when you experiment while using code that takes a while to type. Even though you have to type it the first time, you have no good reason to type it the second time.

10Press Enter twice.

Notice that Harry is added in sorted order. In addition, Sarah’s entry is changed to the color Purple.

11Type del Colors[“Sam”] and press Enter.

Python removes Sam’s entry from the dictionary.

12Repeat Steps 9 and 10.

You verify that Sam’s entry is actually gone.

13Type len(Colors) and press Enter.

The output value of 3 verifies that the dictionary contains only three entries now, rather than 4.

14Type Colors.clear( ) and press Enter. Then, Type len(Colors) and press Enter.

Python reports that Colors has 0 entries, so the dictionary is now empty.

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:

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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:

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

Example

Get the value of the 'model' key:

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Change Values

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

Example

Change the 'year' to 2018:

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Loop Through a Dictionary

You can loop through a dictionary by using a for loop.

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:

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Example

Print all values in the dictionary, one by one:

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Example

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

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Example

Loop through both keys and values, by using the items() function:

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Check if Key Exists

To determine if a specified key is present in a dictionary use the in keyword:

Example

Check if 'model' is present in the dictionary:

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Dictionary Length

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

Example

Print the number of items in the dictionary:

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Adding Items

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

Example

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Removing Items

There are several methods to remove items from a dictionary:

Example

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

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Example

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

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Example

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

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Example

The del keyword can also delete the dictionary completely:

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Example

The clear() method empties the dictionary:

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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().

Python Dictionary Get Key Name

Example

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

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

Example

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

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Nested Dictionaries

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

Example

Create a dictionary that contain three dictionaries:

Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary Download

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

Example

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

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The dict() Constructor

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

Example

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Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary 2017

Dictionary Methods

Python Generate Next Key For Dictionary Free

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

Python Dictionary Get Keys

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
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 key, with the specified value
update()	Updates the dictionary with the specified key-value pairs
values()	Returns a list of all the values in the dictionary