How to create a dictionary in Python

About Python dictionary

In Python, a dictionary is an unordered collection of key-value pairs.

Dictionary keys must be unique and immutable, while values can be of any data type and can be mutable.

In Python, dictionary items are placed in key-value paired inside curly braces '{}' and key and value are paired with colon (:). Each key-value pair item is separated with comma (,).

Creating a dictionary in Python


Using curly braces {}:

1. Create a collection of key-value pairs ('name':'john', 'city':'Paris') and place them inside curly braces '{}'. The code will look like this: {'name':'john', 'city':'Paris'}. A dictionary is created.

2. Create a variable my_dic and assign the dictionary to the my_dic variable. Use print() function to print the dictionary.

Please take a closer look at the following example:

Example of creating dictionary using curly braces {}

Output of the above example
Your dictionary: {'name': 'john', 'city': 'Paris'}


Using the dict() constructor:

You can create a dictionary by passing key-value pairs as arguments, or passing an iterable (like a list or tuple whose each element has paired elements) as argument to the dict() constructor.

Dictionary from key-value pairs:

1. Create key-value pairs (name='John', age=25)) and pass it inside dict() constructor like this - dict(name='John', age=25). It will create a dictionary. Please note that '=' operator is used for key-value pair.

2. Create a variable name person_dic and assign the dictionary to the person_dic variable. Use print() function to print the dictionary as shown in the following first example.


Dictionary from list:

1. Create a list [('name', 'Jenny'), ('age', 30), ('city', 'London')] where each element has two paired elements in a tuple e.g. ('name', 'Jenny'). Pass the list to the dict() constructor like this - dict([('name', 'Jenny'), ('age', 30), ('city', 'London')]). It will create a dictionary.

2. Create a variable name jenny_dic and assign the dictionary to the jenny_dic variable. Use print() function to print the dictionary as shown in the following second example.

You can create a dictionary from a tuple using dict() constructor in the same way.

Please take a closer look at the following examples:

Example of creating dictionary using dict() constructor

Output of the above example
Dictionary using dict(): {'name': 'John', 'age': 25}
Dictionary from list: {'name': 'Jenny', 'age': 30, 'city': 'London'}

Live Code Playground

In the following Python code editor, you can practice the above code by creating more dictionary using different methods. Click the 'Execute' button to execute the code; the executed output will be displayed in the following Python Code Output frame. Practice until you become comfortable and proficient with your code.

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Python Code Output