Python Dictionary is like a map that is used to store data in the form of a key: value pair. Python provides various built-in functions to deal with dictionaries. In this article, we will see a list of all the functions provided by Python to work with dictionaries.
Table of Python Dictionary Methods
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Functions Name |
Descriptions |
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Removes all items from the dictionary |
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Returns a shallow copy of the dictionary |
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Creates a dictionary from the given sequence |
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Returns the value for the given key |
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Return the list with all dictionary keys with values |
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Returns a view object that displays a list of all the keys in the dictionary in order of insertion |
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Returns and removes the element with the given key |
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Returns and removes the key-value pair from the dictionary |
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Returns the value of a key if the key is in the dictionary else inserts the key with a value to the dictionary |
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Updates the dictionary with the elements from another dictionary |
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Returns a list of all the values available in a given dictionary |
Note: For more information on Python Dictionary refer to Python Dictionary Tutorial.
Built-in Dictionary Methods
In Python Dictionary we have various built-in functions that provide a wide range of operations for working with dictionaries. These techniques enable efficient manipulation, access, and transformation of dictionary data.
Dictionary clear() Method
The clear() method in Python is a built-in method that is used to remove all the elements (key-value pairs) from a dictionary. It essentially empties the dictionary, leaving it with no key-value pairs.
Python3
my_dict = {'1': 'Geeks', '2': 'For', '3': 'Geeks'}my_dict.clear()print(my_dict) |
Output:
{}
Dictionary get() Method
In Python, the get() method is a pre-built dictionary function that enables you to obtain the value linked to a particular key in a dictionary. It is a secure method to access dictionary values without causing a KeyError if the key isn’t present.
Python3
d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}print(d.get('Name'))print(d.get('Gender')) |
Output:
Ram
None
Dictionary items() Method
In Python, the items() method is a built-in dictionary function that retrieves a view object containing a list of tuples. Each tuple represents a key-value pair from the dictionary. This method is a convenient way to access both the keys and values of a dictionary simultaneously, and it is highly efficient.
Python3
d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}print(list(d.items())[1][0])print(list(d.items())[1][1]) |
Output:
Age
19
Dictionary keys() Method
The keys() method in Python returns a view object with dictionary keys, allowing efficient access and iteration.
Python3
d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}print(list(d.keys())) |
Output:
['Name', 'Age', 'Country']
Dictionary values() Method
The values() method in Python returns a view object containing all dictionary values, which can be accessed and iterated through efficiently.
Python3
d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}print(list(d.values())) |
Output:
['Ram', '19', 'India']
Dictionary update() Method
Python’s update() method is a built-in dictionary function that updates the key-value pairs of a dictionary using elements from another dictionary or an iterable of key-value pairs. With this method, you can include new data or merge it with existing dictionary entries.
Python3
d1 = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}d2 = {'Name': 'Neha', 'Age': '22'}d1.update(d2)print(d1) |
Output:
{'Name': 'Neha', 'Age': '22', 'Country': 'India'}
Dictionary pop() Method
In Python, the pop() method is a pre-existing dictionary method that removes and retrieves the value linked with a given key from a dictionary. If the key is not present in the dictionary, you can set an optional default value to be returned.
Python3
d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}d.pop('Age')print(d) |
Output:
{'Name': 'Ram', 'Country': 'India'}
Dictionary popitem() Method
In Python, the popitem() method is a dictionary function that eliminates and returns a random (key, value) pair from the dictionary. As opposed to the pop() method which gets rid of a particular key-value pair based on a given key, popitem() takes out and gives back a pair without requiring a key to be specified.
Python3
d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}d.popitem()print(d)d.popitem()print(d) |
Output:
{'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19'}
{'Name': 'Ram'}
FAQs on Python Dictionary Methods
Q1: What is a Python Dictionary?
Answer:
In Python, a dictionary is like a container that holds an assortment of key-value pairs, It’s a fundamental way to organize data where each piece of information is known as a “Key”. The Dictionary doesn’t impose any specific order on these pairs, so you can’t rely on the sequence in which they were added.
Q2: How we can access values in a Python dictionary?
Answer:
We can access values in a Python dictionary by using the keys as the index: Below is the code:
my_dict = {“name”: “Kin”, “age”: 23, “city”: “London”}
print(my_dict[“name”]) #kin
print(my_dict[“age”]) #23
print(my_dict[“city”]) #London
Q3: What happens when we try to access a key that doesn’t exist in the dictionary?
Answer:
When we try to access a key that doesn’t exist in the dictionary, Python will raise a ‘KeyError’. You can use the ‘get()’ method.
Q4: How do we remove an item from a dictionary?
Answer:
To remove an item (key-value pair) from a dictionary, you can use the ‘pop()’ method, specifying the key to be removed.
