Python Dictionary Access

Like python lists and python tuples, we can access a specific item in a python dictionary. To do this, we use both index method and get method. Beside, we can also access the  complete keys and values in a dictionary. Let’s show these methods with different Python coding examples.

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Firstly, let’s see how to access  a value of a key:value pair.

character =        {
  "race": "wizard",
  "name": "Gandalf",
  "color": "grey"
}
print(character["name"])

The output of this python code will be:

Gandalf

You can learn all Python Dictionary Methods

Here, we have used index operator. We add the key inside square brackets and access the value of this key. We can get the same result with get() method.

character =        {
  "race": "wizard",
  "name": "Gandalf",
  "color": "grey"
}
print(character.get("name"))

Gandalf

We can use these methods in networking liek below:

device ={
  "vendor": "Cisco",
  "model": "9000 series",
  "RU": 44
}
print(device["model"])

9000 series

device ={
  "vendor": "Cisco",
  "model": "9000 series",
  "RU": 44
}
print(device.get("model"))

9000 series

These are the methods used to access any value of a key:value pair. Now, let’s see how to access both all the keys and all the values in a python dictionary.

You can learn all How to add a Python Dictionary

Accessing Keys and Values

Below, we will access  a all keys of a character dictionary.

character =        {
  "race": "wizard",
  "name": "Gandalf",
  "color": "grey"
}
print(character.keys())

The output of this code will be:

dict_keys(['race', 'name', 'color'])

As you can see above, all the keys are listed. Below, we will access the keys of device dictionary.

device ={
  "vendor": "Cisco",
  "model": "9000 series",
  "RU": 44
}
print(device.keys())

dict_keys(['vendor', 'model', 'RU'])

 Now, let’s access the values of a character and device dictionaries.

character =        {
  "race": "wizard",
  "name": "Gandalf",
  "color": "grey"
}
print(character.values())

dict_values(['wizard', 'Gandalf', 'grey'])

The second networking example will be like below:

device ={
  "vendor": "Cisco",
  "model": "9000 series",
  "RU": 44
}
print(device.values())

dict_values(['Cisco', '9000 series', 44])

Accessing Complete Items

We can access the comlete items in a python dictionary with the help of items function. The return of this fucntion will be as tuple in a list.

Below, we will access the items of the dictionaries and as an output, we will receive an a tuple in a list.

character =        {
  "race": "wizard",
  "name": "Gandalf",
  "color": "grey"
}
print(character.items())

dict_items([('race', 'wizard'), ('name', 'Gandalf'), ('color', 'grey')])

device ={
  "vendor": "Nokia",
  "model": "7950 XRS",
  "location": "IP Core"
}
print(device.items())

dict_items([('vendor', 'Nokia'), ('model', '7950 XRS'), ('location', 'IP Core')])

In this lesson, we have learned how to access the keys and values of a python dictionary. With diffferent exaamples, you can increase your experience on Python Dictionary access methods.

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