Access Dictionary Items In Python

We are investigating the Python dictionaries access. The purpose of this post is to satisfy readers’ hunger for information by providing examples.

Python Access Dictionary Items

Using Python dictionaries access, we can access items by using their key name placed inside square brackets []

Find the value of the “position” key:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict["full name"] print(a)

The same result can also be obtained with the get() method.

Find the value of the “position” key:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.get("full name") print(a)


Get Values

In Python, you can access dictionaries by using the values() method, which returns a list of all the dictionary’s values.

To get a list of the values, follow these steps:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.values() print(a)

Any changes made to the dictionary will be reflected in the values list, since it is a view of the dictionary.

Check that the values list has been updated as well after making a change in the original dictionary:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.values() print(a) #before Modification footballer_bio_dict["position"] = "Midfielder" print(a) #after Modification

Make sure the values list is also updated when you add an item to the original dictionary:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" }a = footballer_bio_dict.values() print(a) #before Modification Footballer_bio_dict["first club"] = "FC Barcelona" print(a) #after Modification

Get Keys

In Python dictionaries access, dictionary keys are unique, but its values may not be. As long as the keys are immutable, like strings, numbers, or tuples, the values of a dictionary can be of any type.

Python dictionaries can be accessed using the keys() method, which returns a list of all the keys in the dictionary.

To get a list of the keys, follow these steps:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.keys() print(a)

Python’s dictionaries access is based on the keys list, meaning that any changes made to the dictionary are reflected in the list of keys.

See that the keys list is also updated after adding a new item to the original dictionary:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.keys() print(a) #before Modification Footballer_bio_dict["world cups"] = 1 print(a) #after Modification


Check if Key Already Exists

Using the in keyword, you can determine whether a particular key is present in a dictionary.

See that the items list is updated when you add a new item to the original dictionary:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } if "height" in footballer_bio_dict: print("Absolutely, In the dictionary of footballer_bio_dict, 'height' is one of the keys")

Get Items

When it comes to Python dictionaries access, the items() method returns each item as a tuple in a list.

Find out how many key-value pairs there are?

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.items() print(a)

When we talk about Python dictionaries access – Any changes made to the dictionary will be reflected in the returned list, which is a view of the dictionary items.

Edit the original dictionary, and make sure the items list is updated as well:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.items() print(a) #before Modification Footballer_bio_dict["position"] = "Midfielder" print(a) #after Modification

See that the items list is updated when you add a new item to the original dictionary:

Example: 

footballer_bio_dict = { "full name": "Lionel Andres Messi", "Place of birth": "Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina", "height": "1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)", "position": "Forward" } a = footballer_bio_dict.items() print(a) #before Modification Footballer_bio_dict["first club"] = "FC Barcelona" print(a) #after Modification

Where to use Access Dictionary Items In Python ?

Here are some common scenarios where you might use dictionary item access:

  1. You can access dictionary values by using the corresponding key. This allows you to retrieve specific values based on the keys stored in the dictionary. For example, if you have a dictionary representing student grades, you can access a particular student’s grade by using their name as the key.
  2. Dictionary item access is useful when you need to perform conditional logic based on the values associated with certain keys. You can access the value corresponding to a key and use it in conditional statements or calculations. For instance, if you have a dictionary representing product prices, you can access the price of a product and perform calculations or comparisons based on that value.
  3. Accessing dictionary items is often necessary for manipulating and modifying data. You can retrieve specific values, modify them, and store them back in the dictionary. This is helpful when you want to update or transform data stored in a dictionary.
  4. When iterating over a dictionary, you can access both the keys and values of each item. This allows you to process or operate on each key-value pair individually. For example, you can use a for loop to iterate over the dictionary and perform actions based on the values or keys.
  5. Dictionary item access can be used for input validation and verification. You can check if a certain key exists in the dictionary before performing further actions or validate the value associated with a key to ensure it meets specific criteria.
  6. If you are working with JSON data, you can access dictionary items to extract information from the JSON structure. JSON data is typically loaded as a dictionary in Python, allowing you to access its elements using key-based access.
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