Python Dictionary Methods

Python dictionary methods is collection of Python functions that operates on Dictionary.

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.

List of Python Dictionary Methods

Python provides several built-in methods for dictionaries that allow for efficient manipulation, access, and transformation of dictionary data. Here’s a list of some important Python dictionary methods:

These methods provide various functionalities for working with dictionaries in Python, making it easier to manage and manipulate data stored in key-value pairs.

Note: For more information on Python Dictionary refer to Python Dictionary Tutorial.

Built-in Dictionary Methods in Python

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.

Lets Look at some Python dictionary methods with examples:

1. 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.

my_dict = {'1': 'Geeks', '2': 'For', '3': 'Geeks'}
my_dict.clear()
print(my_dict)

{}

2. 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.

d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
print(d.get('Name'))
print(d.get('Gender'))

Ram
None

3. 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.

d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
print(list(d.items())[1][0])
print(list(d.items())[1][1])

Age
19

4. Dictionary keys() Method

The keys() method in Python returns a view object with dictionary keys, allowing efficient access and iteration.

d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
print(list(d.keys()))

['Name', 'Age', 'Country']

5. Dictionary values() Method

The values() method in Python returns a view object containing all dictionary values, which can be accessed and iterated through efficiently.

d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
print(list(d.values()))

['Ram', '19', 'India']

6. 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.

d1 = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
d2 = {'Name': 'Neha', 'Age': '22'}

d1.update(d2)
print(d1)

{'Name': 'Neha', 'Age': '22', 'Country': 'India'}

7. 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.

d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
d.pop('Age')
print(d)

{'Name': 'Ram', 'Country': 'India'}

8. 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.

d = {'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19', 'Country': 'India'}
d.popitem()
print(d)

d.popitem()
print(d)

{'Name': 'Ram', 'Age': '19'}
{'Name': 'Ram'}

FAQs on Python Dictionary Methods

Q1: What is a Python Dictionary?

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?

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?

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?

To remove an item (key-value pair) from a dictionary, you can use the ‘pop()’ method, specifying the key to be removed.

GeeksforGeeks

Improve