Session 09

Dictionaries

Python @ Sinet
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Python Collections (Arrays)

There are four collection data types in the Python programming

language:
List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate
members.
Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows
duplicate members.
Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed.
No duplicate members.
Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No
duplicate members.

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 Dictionary
Dictionaries are used to store data values in key: value pairs.
A dictionary is a collection which is ordered*, changeable and do not allow
duplicates.
As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier,
dictionaries are unordered.

Dictionaries are written with curly brackets, and have keys and values:

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

{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang', 'year': 1964}

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Dictionary Items
Dictionary items are ordered, changeable, and does not allow duplicates.
Dictionary items are presented in key:value pairs, and can be referred to by
using the key name.

Example
Print the "brand" value of the dictionary:

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

Ford

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Note ! is Ordered or Unordered?
As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and
earlier, dictionaries are unordered.

When we say that dictionaries are ordered, it means that the items
have a defined order, and that order will not change.
Unordered means that the items does not have a defined order, you
cannot refer to an item by using an index.

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Changeable
Dictionaries are changeable, meaning that we can change, add or
remove items after the dictionary has been created.
Duplicates Not Allowed
Dictionaries cannot have two or more items with the same key.
Duplicate values will overwrite existing values.

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thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964,
"year": 2020
}
print(thisdict)

{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang', 'year': 2020}

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 Dictionary Length
To determine how many items a dictionary has, use the len() function:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964,
"year": 2020
}
print(len(thisdict))

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 Dictionary Items - Data Types
The values in dictionary items can be of any data type:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"electric": False,
"year": 1964,
"colors": ["red", "white", "blue"]
}
print(thisdict)

{'brand': 'Ford', 'electric': False, 'year': 1964, 'colors': ['red', 'white', 'blue']}

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 type()

From Python's perspective, dictionaries are defined as objects with the data type 'dict':
<class 'dict'>
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
print(type(thisdict))

<class 'dict'>

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Python Collections (Arrays)
There are four collection data types in the Python programming
language:
List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate
members.
Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows
duplicate members.
Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed.
No duplicate members.
Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No
duplicate members.

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 Accessing Items
You can access the items of a dictionary by referring to its key name,
inside square brackets:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = thisdict["model"]
print(x) #Mustang

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 Get the value of the "model" key using get()
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = thisdict.get("model")
print(x)
Mustang

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 Get Keys using keys() function
The keys() method will return a list of all the keys in the dictionary.
company= {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = company.keys()
print(x)
dict_keys(['brand', 'model', 'year'])

Note: The list of the keys is a view of the dictionary, meaning that any changes done to
the dictionary will be reflected in the keys list.

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car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = car.keys()
print(x) #before the change
car["color"] = "white"
car["Price"] = 120000
print(x) #after the change

dict_keys(['brand', 'model', 'year'])

dict_keys(['brand', 'model', 'year', 'color', 'Price'])

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 Get Values using values()
method
The values() method will return a list of all the values in the dictionary.
Cmpny = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = Cmpny.values()
print(x)

dict_values(['Ford', 'Mustang', 1964])

The list of the values is a view of the dictionary, meaning that any changes done to the
dictionary will be reflected in the values list.

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 How to make a change in the original dictionary ?
How to see that the values list gets updated as well?
car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = car.values()
print(x) #before the change
car["year"] = 2020
print(x) #after the change
dict_values(['Ford', 'Mustang', 1964])
dict_values(['Ford', 'Mustang', 2020])

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 Add a new item to the original dictionary, and see that the values list gets updated as well:
car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = car.values()
print(x) #before the change
car["color"] = "red"
print(x) #after the change
dict_values(['Ford', 'Mustang', 1964])
dict_values(['Ford', 'Mustang', 1964, 'red'])

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 The items() method will return each item in a dictionary, as tuples in a list.
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = thisdict.items()
print(x)
dict_items([('brand', 'Ford'), ('model', 'Mustang'), ('year', 1964)])

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car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = car.items()
print(x) #before the change
car["year"] = 2020
print(x) #after the change

dict_items([('brand', 'Ford'), ('model', 'Mustang'), ('year', 1964)])

dict_items([('brand', 'Ford'), ('model', 'Mustang'), ('year', 2020)])
The items() method will return each item in a dictionary, as tuples in a
list.

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car = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
x = car.items()
print(x) #before the change
car["color"] = "red"
print(x) #after the change
dict_items([('brand', 'Ford'), ('model', 'Mustang'), ('year', 1964)])
dict_items([('brand', 'Ford'), ('model', 'Mustang'), ('year', 1964), ('color', 'red')])
The items() method will return each item in a dictionary, as tuples in a list.

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 Check if Key Exists
To determine if a specified key is present in a dictionary use the in keyword:
car= {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
if "model" in car :
print("Yes, 'model' is one of the keys in the car dictionary")
Yes, 'model' is one of the keys in the car dictionary

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 Change Values
You can change the value of a specific item by referring to its key name:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict["year"] = 2018
print(thisdict)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang', 'year': 2018}

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 Update Dictionary
The update() method will update the dictionary with the items from the
given argument.
The argument must be a dictionary, or an iterable object with key:value
pairs.
Update the "year" of the car by using the update() method:

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thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.update({"year": 2020})
print(thisdict)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang', 'year': 2020}

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 Add Dictionary Items
Adding an item to the dictionary is done by using a new index key and
assigning a value to it:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict["color"] = "red"
print(thisdict)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang', 'year': 1964, 'color': 'red'}

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 Remove Dictionary Items
There are several methods to remove items from a dictionary:
The pop() method removes the item with the specified key name:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.pop("model")
print(thisdict)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'year': 1964}

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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)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang'}

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The del keyword removes the item with the specified key name:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
del thisdict["model"]
print(thisdict)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'year': 1964}

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 The clear() method empties the dictionary:
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
thisdict.clear()
print(thisdict)
{}

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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().

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

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Another way to make a copy is to use the built-in function dict().
thisdict = {
"brand": "Ford",
"model": "Mustang",
"year": 1964
}
mydict = dict(thisdict)
print(mydict)
{'brand': 'Ford', 'model': 'Mustang', 'year': 1964}

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Nested Dictionaries
A dictionary can contain dictionaries, this is called nested dictionaries.
Example
Create a dictionary that contain three dictionaries:
myfamily = {
"child1" : {
"name" : "Emil",
"year" : 2004
},

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"child2" : {
"name" : "Tobias",
"year" : 2007
},
"child3" : {
"name" : "Linus",
"year" : 2011
}
}
print(myfamily)
{'child1': {'name': 'Emil', 'year': 2004}, 'child2': {'name': 'Tobias', 'year': 2007},
'child3': {'name': 'Linus', 'year': 2011}}

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 Create three dictionaries, then create one dictionary that will contain the
other three dictionaries:
child1 = {
"name" : "Emil",
"year" : 2004
}
child2 = {
"name" : "Tobias",
"year" : 2007
}

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child3 = {
"name" : "Linus",
"year" : 2011
}
myfamily = {
"child1" : child1,
"child2" : child2,
"child3" : child3
}

print(myfamily)

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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

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Thank you

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