Python - Dictionary

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Dictionary is one of the built-in data types in Python. Python's dictionary is example of mapping type. A mapping object 'maps' value of one object with another.

In a language dictionary we have pairs of word and corresponding meaning. Two parts of pair are key (word) and value (meaning). Similarly, Python dictionary is also a collection of key-value pairs.

Each key is separated from its value by a colon (:), the items are separated by commas, and the whole thing is enclosed in curly braces. An empty dictionary without any items is written with just two curly braces, like this: {}.

Keys are unique within a dictionary while values may not be. The values of a dictionary can be of any type, but the keys must be of an immutable data type such as strings, numbers, or tuples.

Given below are some examples of Python dictionary objects −

capitals = {"Maharashtra":"Mumbai", "Gujarat":"Gandhinagar", "Telangana":"Hyderabad", "Karnataka":"Bengaluru"}
numbers = {10:"Ten", 20:"Twenty", 30:"Thirty",40:"Forty"}
marks = {"Savita":67, "Imtiaz":88, "Laxman":91, "David":49}

More Examples

Let us see more examples of python dictionaries −

Example 1

Only a number, string or tuple can be used as key. All of them are immutable. You can use an object of any type as the value. Hence following definitions of dictionary are also valid −

d1 = {"Fruit":["Mango","Banana"], "Flower":["Rose", "Lotus"]}
d2 = {('India, USA'):'Countries', ('New Delhi', 'New York'):'Capitals'}
print (d1)
print (d2)

It will produce the following output −

{'Fruit': ['Mango', 'Banana'], 'Flower': ['Rose', 'Lotus']}
{'India, USA': 'Countries', ('New Delhi', 'New York'): 'Capitals'}

Example 2

Python doesn't accept mutable objects such as list as key, and raises TypeError.

d1 = {["Mango","Banana"]:"Fruit", "Flower":["Rose", "Lotus"]}
print (d1)

It will raise a TypeError −

Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "C:\Users\Sairam\PycharmProjects\pythonProject\main.py", line 8, in <module>
d1 = {["Mango","Banana"]:"Fruit", "Flower":["Rose", "Lotus"]}
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
TypeError: unhashable type: 'list'

Example 3

You can assign a value to more than one keys in a dictionary, but a key cannot appear more than once in a dictionary.

d1 = {"Banana":"Fruit", "Rose":"Flower", "Lotus":"Flower", "Mango":"Fruit"}
d2 = {"Fruit":"Banana","Flower":"Rose", "Fruit":"Mango", "Flower":"Lotus"}
print (d1)
print (d2)

It will produce the following output −

{'Banana': 'Fruit', 'Rose': 'Flower', 'Lotus': 'Flower', 'Mango': 'Fruit'}
{'Fruit': 'Mango', 'Flower': 'Lotus'}

Accessing Values in Dictionary

To access dictionary elements, you can use the familiar square brackets along with the key to obtain its value. Following is a simple example −

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}
print ("dict['Name']: ", dict['Name'])
print ("dict['Age']: ", dict['Age'])

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Name']:  Zara
dict['Age']:  7

If we attempt to access a data item with a key, which is not part of the dictionary, we get an error as follows −

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}
print ("dict['Alice']: ", dict['Alice'])

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/main.py", line 2, in 
    print ("dict['Alice']: ", dict['Alice'])
KeyError: 'Alice'

Updating Dictionary

You can update a dictionary by adding a new entry or a key-value pair, modifying an existing entry, or deleting an existing entry as shown below in the simple example −

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}
dict['Age'] = 8; # update existing entry
dict['School'] = "DPS School"; # Add new entry

print ("dict['Age']: ", dict['Age'])
print ("dict['School']: ", dict['School'])

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Age']:  8
dict['School']:  DPS School

Delete Dictionary Elements

You can either remove individual dictionary elements or clear the entire contents of a dictionary. You can also delete entire dictionary in a single operation.

To explicitly remove an entire dictionary, just use the del statement. Following is a simple example −

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}
print ("Contents of the dictionary: \n",dict)

del dict['Name']; # remove entry with key 'Name'
print ("Contents after removing the key 'Name': \n",dict)

dict.clear();     # remove all entries in dict
print ("Contents after removing all entries: \n",dict)

This produces the following result −

Contents of the dictionary: 
 {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}
Contents after removing the key 'Name': 
 {'Age': 7, 'Class': 'First'}
Contents after removing all entries: 
 {}

Properties of Dictionary Keys

Dictionary values have no restrictions. They can be any arbitrary Python object, either standard objects or user-defined objects. However, same is not true for the keys.

There are two important points to remember about dictionary keys −

(a) More than one entry per key not allowed. Which means no duplicate key is allowed. When duplicate keys encountered during assignment, the last assignment wins. For example −

dict = {'Name': 'Zara', 'Age': 7, 'Name': 'Manni'}
print ("dict['Name']: ", dict['Name'])

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

dict['Name']:  Manni

(b) Keys must be immutable. Which means you can use strings, numbers or tuples as dictionary keys but something like ['key'] is not allowed. Following is a simple example −

dict = {['Name']: 'Zara', 'Age': 7}
print ("dict['Name']: ", dict['Name'])

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result −

Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "test.py", line 3, in <module>
      dict = {['Name']: 'Zara', 'Age': 7};
TypeError: unhashable type: 'list'

Python Dictionary Operators

In Python, following operators are defined to be used with dictionary operands. In the example, the following dictionary objects are used.

d1 = {'a': 2, 'b': 4, 'c': 30}
d2 = {'a1': 20, 'b1': 40, 'c1': 60}

Operator	Description	Example
dict[key]	Extract/assign the value mapped with key	print (d1['b']) retrieves 4 d1['b'] = 'Z' assigns new value to key 'b'
dict1|dict2	Union of two dictionary objects, retuning new object	d3=d1|d2 ; print (d3) {'a': 2, 'b': 4, 'c': 30, 'a1': 20, 'b1': 40, 'c1': 60}
dict1|=dict2	Augmented dictionary union operator	d1|=d2; print (d1) {'a': 2, 'b': 4, 'c': 30, 'a1': 20, 'b1': 40, 'c1': 60}

Python Dictionary Methods

Python includes following dictionary methods −

Built-in Functions with Dictionaries

Following are the built-in functions we can use with Dictionaries −