Accessing Dictionary Items in Python: Retrieving Values by Keys

Using the "[ ]" Operator

A dictionary in Python is not a sequence, as the elements in dictionary are not indexed. Still, you can use the square brackets "[ ]" operator to fetch the value associated with a certain key in the dictionary object.

Example 1

It will produce the following output −

Capital of Gujarat is: Gandhinagar
Capital of Karnataka is: Bengaluru

Example 2

Python raises a KeyError if the key given inside the square brackets is not present in the dictionary object.

It will produce the following output −

   print ("Captial of Haryana is : ", capitals['Haryana'])
                                      ~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^
KeyError: 'Haryana'

Using the get() Method

The get() method in Python's dict class returns the value mapped to the given key.

Syntax

Parameters

• key − An immutable object used as key in the dictionary object

Return Value

The get() method returns the object mapped with the given key.

Example 3

It will produce the following output −

Capital of Gujarat is: Gandhinagar
Capital of Karnataka is: Bengaluru

Example 4

Unlike the "[]" operator, the get() method doesn't raise error if the key is not found; it return None.

It will produce the following output −

Capital of Haryana is : None

Example 5

The get() method accepts an optional string argument. If it is given, and if the key is not found, this string becomes the return value.

It will produce the following output −

Capital of Haryana is: Not found


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