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:
thisdict = {
“brand”: “Ford”,
“model”: “Mustang”,
“year”: 1964
}
x = thisdict[“model”]
Output:
Mustang
There is also a method called get() that will give you the same result:
Example
Get the value of the “model” key:
x = thisdict.get(“model”)
Output:
Mustang
Get Keys
The keys() method will return a list of all the keys in the dictionary.
Example
Get a list of the keys:
x = thisdict.keys()
Output:
dict_keys([‘brand’, ‘model’, ‘year’])
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.
Example
Add a new item to the original dictionary, and see that the keys list gets updated as well:
car = {
“brand”: “Ford”,
“model”: “Mustang”,
“year”: 1964
}
x = car.keys()
print(x) #before the change
car[“color”] = “white”
print(x) #after the change
Output:
dict_keys([‘brand’, ‘model’, ‘year’])
dict_keys([‘brand’, ‘model’, ‘year’, ‘color’])
Get Values
The values() method will return a list of all the values in the dictionary.
Example
Get a list of the values:
x = thisdict.values()
Output:
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.
Example
Make a change in 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[“year”] = 2020
print(x) #after the change
Output:
dict_values([‘Ford’, ‘Mustang’, 1964])
dict_values([‘Ford’, ‘Mustang’, 2020])
Example
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
Output:
dict_values([‘Ford’, ‘Mustang’, 1964])
dict_values([‘Ford’, ‘Mustang’, 1964, ‘red’])
Get Items
The items() method will return each item in a dictionary, as tuples in a list.
Example
Get a list of the key:
value pairsx = thisdict.items()
Output:
dict_items([(‘brand’, ‘Ford’), (‘model’, ‘Mustang’), (‘year’, 1964)])
The returned list is a view of the items of the dictionary, meaning that any changes done to the dictionary will be reflected in the items list.
Example
Make a change in the original dictionary, and see that the items list gets updated as well:
car = {
“brand”: “Ford”,
“model”: “Mustang”,
“year”: 1964
}
x = car.items()
print(x) #before the change
car[“year”] = 2020
print(x) #after the change
Output:
dict_items([(‘brand’, ‘Ford’), (‘model’, ‘Mustang’), (‘year’, 1964)])
dict_items([(‘brand’, ‘Ford’), (‘model’, ‘Mustang’), (‘year’, 2020)])
Example
Add a new item to the original dictionary, and see that the items list gets updated as well:
car = {
“brand”: “Ford”,
“model”: “Mustang”,
“year”: 1964
}
x = car.items()
print(x) #before the change
car[“color”] = “red”
print(x) #after the change
Output:
dict_items([(‘brand’, ‘Ford’), (‘model’, ‘Mustang’), (‘year’, 1964)])
dict_items([(‘brand’, ‘Ford’), (‘model’, ‘Mustang’), (‘year’, 1964), (‘color’, ‘red’)])
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:thisdict = {
“brand”: “Ford”,
“model”: “Mustang”,
“year”: 1964
}
if “model” in thisdict:
print(“Yes, ‘model’ is one of the keys in the thisdict dictionary”)
Output:
Yes, ‘model’ is one of the keys in the thisdict dictionary