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Python Add to Dictionary: A Complete Guide

Python Add to Dictionary
Python Add to Dictionary

In python, we can use Dictionaries to store data values in key-value pairs. A dictionary is a collection that is ordered, where changeable, and does not allow duplicates. As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier, unorder dictionaries are there. Here we are going to see How to Add Items to Python Dictionary in detail

Python Dictionary: A Refresher

We must understand a python Dictionary, it is a dictionary that is an unordered and mutable Python container that stores mappings of unique keys to values. Dictionaries are written with curly brackets ({}), including key-value pairs separated by commas (,).

Python Dictionary update() method updates the dictionary with the elements from another dictionary object or from an iterable of key/value pairs. Dictionaries are Python’s implementation of a data structure that is more generally known as an associative array. A dictionary consists of a collection of key-value pairs. Each key-value pair maps the key to its associated value.

Syntax

dict.update([other])

Parameters: This method takes either a dictionary or an iterable object of key/value pairs (generally tuples) as parameters

Python Add to Dictionary

If you want to add Dictionary to using in python “=” assignment operator. If you want to add a new key to the dictionary, then you can use the assignment operator with the dictionary key. This is pretty much the same as assigning a new value to the dictionary.

Let’s see how can we add new keys to a dictionary using different ways to a dictionary.

Create a dictionary first

1: Add new keys using the Subscript notation

2: Add new keys using the update() method

3: Add new keys using the _setitem_ method

4: Add new keys using the ** operator

Below are the two approaches which we can use

Assigning a new key as a subscript. We add a new element to the dictionary by using a new key as a subscript and assigning it a value

  • Using the update() method
  • By merging two dictionaries

The easiest way to add an item to a Python dictionary is simply to assign a value to a new key. Python dictionaries don’t have a method by which to append a new key: value pair. Because of this, direct assignment is the primary way of adding new items to a dictionary.

Tip: Adding and Updating Use the Same Notation

We can add/append new key-value pairs to a dictionary using the update() function and [] operator. We can also append new values to existing values for a key or replace the values of existing keys using the same subscript operator and update() function, but you can repeat the key values and be of any type. Let’s see how can we add new keys to a dictionary using different ways to a dictionary.

Python Dictionary update() method updates the dictionary with the elements from another dictionary object or from an iterable of key/value pairs.

Syntax: dict.update([other])

Parameters: This method takes either a dictionary or an iterable object of key/value pairs (generally tuples) as parameters.

Python Add to Dictionary – Adding an Item to a Dict

Data structures help us organize and store collections of data. Python has built-in data structures like Lists, Sets, Tuples, and Dictionaries. Each of these structures has its own syntax and methods for interacting with the data stored.

How to Create a Dictionary in Python

Dictionaries are made up of key and value pairs nested in curly brackets. Here’s an example of a Dictionary

dev_bio = {

  "name": "Ihechikara",

  "age": 120,

  "language": "JavaScript"

}

print(devBio)

# Output: {'name': 'Ihechikara', 'age': 120, 'language': 'JavaScript'}

In the code above, we created a dictionary called devBio with information about a developer – the developer’s age is quite overwhelming. Each key in the dictionary – name, age, and language – has a corresponding value. A comma separates each key and value pair from another. Omitting the comma throws an error your way.

Before we dive into how we can add items to our dictionaries, let’s have a look at some of the features of a dictionary. This will help you easily distinguish them from other data structures in Python.

Conclusion

I hope you got a clear idea about adding items to the python dictionary. We can’t add items to Python Dictionary with ordinary commands, so we have to insert a new index key and assign values. Now you can easily items to a dictionary easily, so start your Python learning now. Follow Publish Square for more blogs like this and share your thoughts in the comments section

About the author

Ashwini

A Content Writer at PublishSquare who is passionate about Seo, Creative Writing, Digital Marketing with 2+ years of experience in Content Creation for blogs and social media.