Weird Dictionaries simplified.

Weird Dictionaries simplified 📚

Hey everyone 👋
This is my first ever blog on the internet, I am excited to share my journey with you.

So we are here for Dictionaries right?

Q: What are Dictionaries?
A: A book? A book that contains many pages? A book that has meanings of other words??

Well, technically yes… But Pythonically 🐍 no!!

So, what is a Dictionary in Python?
Lets compare it with real world dictionaries. Imagine a real-world dictionary that helps you find the meaning of words. Python dictionaries work similarly, but instead of words and meanings, they store key-value pairs. These key-value pairs allow you to quickly find information based on a unique “key.”

In simple words, think of a Dictionary as Locker Room 🔒, where each key 🔑 opens a specific lock! 🔐

So, what are we waiting for? Lets start with a simple example.

Creation

# Creating an empty dictionary
my_dict = {}

# Adding key-value pairs
my_dict['apple'] = 'A fruit that keeps the doctor away 🍎'
my_dict['banana'] = 'Yellow fruit loved by monkeys 🍌'
my_dict['cherry'] = 'Small red fruit used in desserts 🍒'

print(my_dict)

Output:

{'apple': 'A fruit that keeps the doctor away 🍎', 'banana': 'Yellow fruit loved by monkeys 🍌', 'cherry': 'Small red fruit used in desserts 🍒'}

Congratulations! 🎉 You’ve just created your own Python dictionary! The output will show all the key-value pairs stored in the dictionary.

Now wait!.. Hold your horses..🐴

Let me explain!

Explanation

my_dict = {}

• This line initializes an empty dictionary named my_dict. In Python, dictionaries are defined using curly braces {}.

my_dict['apple'] = 'A fruit that keeps the doctor away 🍎'
my_dict['banana'] = 'Yellow fruit loved by monkeys 🍌'
my_dict['cherry'] = 'Small red fruit used in desserts 🍒'

• These lines add key-value pairs to the my_dict dictionary.
• In Python dictionaries, each value is associated with a unique key. Here, ‘apple’, ‘banana’, and ‘cherry’ are keys 🔑, and the corresponding strings are their associated values ℹ️.
• To add a key-value pair to a dictionary, we use square brackets ([]) with the key 🔑 inside them on the left side of the assignment operator (=), followed by the value on the right side.
• Well, you know the print part, right ?

Accessing

Now comes the usage 🧪

print(my_dict['apple'])

• By specifying the key (‘apple’ in this case), you can instantly retrieve the associated value (‘A fruit that keeps the doctor away 🍎’).

Usage

WHY Dictionaries ? 🤔 💭

• Fast Information Retrieval 🔎: Dictionaries allow lightning-fast retrieval of values associated with a given key.
• Flexibility 🧰: Dictionaries can be used to store any type of data, including lists, dictionaries, and other complex data structures.
• Dynamic Nature 🌿: Dictionaries can be modified easily by adding, updating, or removing key-value pairs.
• And many more! 🎉:

Conclusion

Python dictionaries are not just another data structure; they’re magical tools for organizing information effortlessly. These are helpful in complex algorithms and data structures.

Thanks very much! Happy hacking!

by @piyushduggal-source (mr_unchained)

Note: I did not use ChatGPT, kasam se..