Py Dicts — Free Python Tutorial

TL;DR: Learn Py Dicts in Python with a free, beginner-friendly tutorial, examples and practice for Indian students on Syllab.in.

Py Dicts in Python

A dictionary stores data as key-value pairs, like a real dictionary where you look up a word (key) to find its meaning (value). Keys must be unique and immutable (strings, numbers, tuples). Values can be anything.

Dictionaries are defined with curly braces { }. You access values by key: d["key"]. They are unordered in Python < 3.7, but maintain insertion order in Python 3.7+.

Use .keys(), .values(), .items() to iterate. The .get() method is safer than [] as it returns None instead of raising a KeyError if the key doesn't exist.

d = {"key": "value", "age": 16}
d["key"]          # access → "value"
d["new"] = 99     # add/update
d.get("missing")  # → None (safe)
"key" in d        # → True

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