Dictionary

2.5. Dictionary#

2.5.1. Update a Dictionary With Items From Another Dictionary#

To update a dictionary with items from another dictionary, use the update method.

birth_year = {"Ben": 1997}
new_birth_year = {"Michael": 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}
birth_year.update(new_birth_year)

birth_year.update(Josh=1990, Olivia=1991)

birth_year

{'Ben': 1997, 'Michael': 1993, 'Lauren': 1999, 'Josh': 1990, 'Olivia': 1991}

2.5.2. Key Parameter in Max(): Find the Key with the Largest Value#

Applying the max method on a Python dictionary will return the max key.

birth_year = {"Ben": 1997, "Alex": 2000, "Oliver": 1995}

max(birth_year)

'Oliver'

To find the key with the max value instead, add key=dictionary.get to the max method.

max_val = max(birth_year, key=birth_year.get)
max_val

'Alex'

2.5.3. dict.get: Get the Default Value of a Dictionary if a Key Doesn’t Exist#

If you want to get the default value when a key doesn’t exist in a dictionary, use dict.get. In the code below, since there is no key meeting3, the default value online is returned.

locations = {'meeting1': 'room1', 'meeting2': 'room2'}

locations.get('meeting1', 'online')

'room1'

locations.get('meeting3', 'online')

'online'

2.5.4. Double dict.get: Get Values in a Nested Dictionary with Missing Keys#

Assume you have a dictionary of fruits with missing keys, and you want to extract the colors from it.

fruits = [
    {"name": "apple", "attr": {"color": "red", "taste": "sweet"}},
    {"name": "orange", "attr": {"taste": "sour"}},
    {"name": "grape", "attr": {"color": "purple"}},
    {"name": "banana"},
]

Using an if-else statement to handle missing keys can make the code lengthy and less readable.

colors = [
    fruit["attr"]["color"]
    if "attr" in fruit and "color" in fruit["attr"]
    else "unknown"
    for fruit in fruits
]
colors

['red', 'unknown', 'purple', 'unknown']

A better alternative is to use the get method twice.

colors = [fruit.get("attr", {}).get("color", "unknown") for fruit in fruits]
colors

['red', 'unknown', 'purple', 'unknown']

In the code above:

The first get method will return an empty dictionary if the “attr” key is missing
The second get method will return unknown if either the “attr” key or the “color” key is missing.

2.5.5. dict.fromkeys: Get a Dictionary From a List and a Value#

To get a dictionary from a list and a value, use dict.fromkeys.

furnitures = ['bed', 'table', 'chair']
loc1 = 'IKEA'

furniture_loc = dict.fromkeys(furnitures, loc1)
furniture_loc

{'bed': 'IKEA', 'table': 'IKEA', 'chair': 'IKEA'}

2.5.6. Reverse a Dictionary with Dictionary Comprehension#

If you want to reverse a dictionary (turn keys into values and vice versa), use the combination of items and dictionary comprehension.

colors = {"apple": "red", "pepper": "green", "onion": "yellow"}

# Get a list of key and value pairs
colors.items()

dict_items([('apple', 'red'), ('pepper', 'green'), ('onion', 'yellow')])

# Switch keys and values by looping the list of key-value pairs
{v: k for k, v in colors.items()}

{'red': 'apple', 'green': 'pepper', 'yellow': 'onion'}

2.5.7. Merge Two Dictionaries Using the Union Operator in Python 3.9#

Before Python 3.9, there are two common ways to merge two dictionaries. The first way is to use the update method, but this approach modifies the original dictionary, which can lead to unexpected behavior.

birth_year = {"Ben": 1997}
new_birth_year = {"Michael": 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}

birth_year.update(new_birth_year)
birth_year

{'Ben': 1997, 'Michael': 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}

The second approach is to use **, but this approach makes the code less readable.

birth_year = {"Ben": 1997}
new_birth_year = {"Michael": 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}
{**birth_year, **new_birth_year}

{'Ben': 1997, 'Michael': 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}

In Python 3.9 and above, you can use the | operator to merge two dictionaries.

birth_year | new_birth_year

{'Ben': 1997, 'Michael': 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}

To update a dictionary in place, use the |= operator.

birth_year |= new_birth_year
birth_year

{'Ben': 1997, 'Michael': 1993, 'Lauren': 1999}

2.5.8. Iterable as a Key of a Dictionary#

Python dictionaries only accept hashable data types as a key in a dictionary. Using a list as a key will give a TypeError because it is not hashable.

price = {['apple', 'orange']: 2, 'banana': 1}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
Cell In [1], line 1
----> 1 price = {['apple', 'orange']: 2, 'banana': 1}

TypeError: unhashable type: 'list'

If you want to use an iterable as a key of the dictionary, use a tuple instead. This works because tuples are immutable.

price = {('apple', 'orange'): 2, 'banana': 1}