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In Python, a dictionary is a built-in data type that represents an unordered collection of key-value pairs. It is sometimes referred to as an associative array or a hash map in other programming languages. Dictionaries are defined using curly braces {}
, and each key-value pair is separated by a colon :
.
my_dict = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3'}
In this example, 'key1'
, 'key2'
, and 'key3'
are keys, and 'value1'
, 'value2'
, and 'value3'
are their corresponding values.
Key features of dictionaries in Python:
- Unordered: The order of items in a dictionary is not guaranteed. Starting from Python 3.7, dictionaries maintain the insertion order of items.
- Mutable: Dictionaries can be modified after creation. You can add, modify, or remove key-value pairs.
- Dynamic: Dictionaries can grow or shrink in size as needed.
- Flexible Key Types: Keys can be of almost any data type (strings, numbers, tuples), but they must be immutable.
- Unique Keys: Keys in a dictionary must be unique. If you try to assign a new value to an existing key, it will overwrite the old value.
- Access by Key: Values in a dictionary are…