Introduction to Python Programming 21PLC15B/25B

Module 2 List and Dictionaries

Lists: The List Data Type, Working with Lists, Augmented Assignment Operators, Methods,
Example Program: Magic 8 Ball with a List, List-like Types: Strings and Tuples, References.
Dictionaries and Structuring Data: The Dictionary Data Type, Pretty Printing, Using Data
Structures to Model Real-World Things.
(Textbook 1: Chapters 4 – 5)
1. Explain the list data type with a suitable example program.

Hint:

>>> spam = ['cat', 'bat', 'rat', 'elephant']

>>> spam[0]
'cat'
>>> spam[1]
'bat'
>>> spam[2]
'rat'
>>> spam[3]
'elephant'

>>> ['cat', 'bat', 'rat', 'elephant'][3]

'elephant'

>>> 'Hello ' + spam[0]

‘Hello cat'

>>> 'The ' + spam[1] + ' ate the ' + spam[0] + '.'
'The bat ate the cat.'
2. Explain the following in terms of python lists with suitable examples.

a. Negative Indicies

b. Slices and sublists

c. len() function

d. Modifying lists

e. List concatenation

f. List replication

g. del() function

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h. in and not in operators

i. Multiple assignment

3. Explain the Augmented assignment operators.

Hint:

4. What are ASCII Values?

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5. What are Methods? How are they different from functions? Exaplain with a suitable
example.

Hint:

• A method is the same thing as a function, except it is “called on” a value.

>>> spam = ['hello', 'hi', 'howdy', 'heyas']

>>> spam.index('hello')
0
6. Explain at least 4 methods for Lists.

Hint:

Methods for List type are:

• index()
o syntax: list_name.index(list_element)
o returns index of list_element’s first appearence
o Eg:

>>> spam = ['Zophie', 'Pooka', 'Fat-tail', 'Pooka']

>>> spam.index('Pooka')
1
<Complete similar explanation for rest of the methods>

• append()
• insert()
• remove()
• sort()

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7. Explain mutable and immutable data types using tuples and lists.

Hint:

• A list value is a mutable data type: It can have values added, removed, or changed.
Eg:

>>> eggs = [1, 2, 3]

>>> eggs = [4, 5, 6]
>>> eggs
[4, 5, 6]
• Strings and Tuples are immutable: They cannot be changed.

>>> name = 'Zophie a cat'

>>> name[7] = 'the'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<pyshell#50>", line 1, in <module>
name[7] = 'the'
TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment

8. Explain the tuple datatype with a suitable example.

Hint:

• The tuple data type is almost identical to the list data type, except in two ways.
o tuples are typed with parentheses, ( and ), instead of square brackets, [ and ].
o tuples, like strings, are immutable. Tuples cannot have their values modified, appended, or
removed.
Eg:

>>> eggs = ('hello', 42, 0.5)

>>> eggs[1] = 99
Traceback (most recent call last):
File " pyshell#50", line 1, in <module>
eggs[1] = 99
TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment

o If only one value is in a tuple, this must be indicated by placing a trailing comma after the value
inside the parentheses.
Eg:

>>> type(('hello',))
<class ‘tuple’>
>>> type(('hello'))

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<class ‘string’>

9. Explain the means of converting a list to a tuple and vice-versa.

Hint:

>>> tuple(['cat', 'dog', 5])

('cat', 'dog', 5)
>>> list(('cat', 'dog', 5))
['cat', 'dog', 5]
>>> list('hello') ['h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o']
10. What is a reference for a list?

Hint:

• When a list is assigned to a variable, it actually assigns a list reference to the variable.
• A reference is a value that points to some bit of data, and a list reference is a value that points to a list.
• A reference is an address used by the python interpreter to access the variables from the memory.

>>>spam = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
>>>cheese = spam
>>>cheese[1] = 'Hello!'
>>>print('spam =',spam)
>>>print('cheese =',cheese)

Output:

spam = [0, 'Hello!', 2, 3, 4, 5]

cheese = [0, 'Hello!', 2, 3, 4, 5]

• Python uses references whenever variables must store values of mutable data types, such as
lists or dictionaries.

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• For values of immutable data types such as strings, integers, or tuples, Python variables will
store the value itself
• To avoid

11. Elaborate passing of a reference using functions

Hint:

• References are used as the arguments that get passed to functions.

• When a function is called, the values of the arguments are copied to the parameter variables.
• Specifically, for lists and dictionaries, a copy of the reference is used for the parameter.

def eggs(someParameter):
someParameter.append('Hello')
spam = [1, 2, 3]
print('spam before eggs:',spam)
eggs(spam)
print('spam after eggs:',spam)

output:

spam before eggs: [1, 2, 3]

spam after eggs: [1, 2, 3, 'Hello']

• when eggs() is called, a return value is not used to assign a new value to spam. Instead, it modifies the
list in place, directly.
• Even though spam and someParameter contain separate references, they both refer to the same list.

12. Explain working with reference using copy method.

Hint:

Eg:

import copy

#%% create copy without copy method

spam = ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D']
cheese = spam
cheese.append('Ee')
print('spam after apppend:\n',spam)
print('cheese after append:\n',cheese)

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#%%creating copy with copy method

cheese = copy.copy(spam)
cheese[1] = 42
print('spam after copy:\n',spam)
print('cheese after copy:\n',cheese)

output:

spam after apppend:

['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'Ee']
cheese after append:
['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'Ee']
spam after copy:
['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'Ee']
cheese after copy:
['A', 42, 'C', 'D', 'Ee']

13. Explain working with reference using deepcopy() method.

Hint:

#%% Without deppcopy

jam = ['a','A',12,['b',4,13.5]]
bread = copy.copy(jam)
print('jam is:',jam)
print('bread is:',bread)
print("bread[3][2] =",bread[3][2])

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bread[3][2]=44
print("Changing bread[3][2]=44...now..")
print('jam is:',jam)
print('bread is:',bread)
Output:

jam is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 13.5]]

bread is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 13.5]]
bread[3][2] = 13.5
Changing bread[3][2]=44...now..
jam is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 44]]
bread is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 44]]

• Try using Deep Copy

#%% Using deepcopy

jam = ['a','A',12,['b',4,13.5]]
bread = copy.deepcopy(jam)
print('jam is:',jam)
print('bread is:',bread)
print("bread[3][2] =",bread[3][2])
bread[3][2]=44
print("Changing bread[3][2]=44...now..")
print('jam is:',jam)
print('bread is:',bread)
Output

jam is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 13.5]]

bread is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 13.5]]
bread[3][2] = 13.5
Changing bread[3][2]=44...now..
jam is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 13.5]]
bread is: ['a', 'A', 12, ['b', 4, 44]]

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14. What are dictionary datatypes? Explain with a suitable example.

Hint:

• Dictionary is a collection of many values.

o Indexes for dictionaries are called keys.
o A key with its associated value is called a key-value pair.
• Dictionary is typed with braces, {}.

Ex:

myCat = {'size': 'fat', 'color': 'gray', 'disposition':

'loud'}

myCat['size']

'My cat has ' + myCat['color'] + ' fur.'

15. Explain the following methods for lists: keys(), values(), items()

• There are three dictionary methods that will return list-like values of the dictionary’s keys, values, or
both keys and values: keys(), values(), and items().

Ex:

myCat = {'size': 'fat', 'color': 'gray', 'disposition':

'loud'}
print('myCat.keys() prints:',myCat.keys())
print('\n\nmyCat.items() prints:',myCat.items())
print('\n\nmyCat.values() prints:',myCat.values())
Output:

myCat.keys() prints: dict_keys(['size', 'color',

'disposition'])

myCat.items() prints: dict_items([('size', 'fat'), ('color',

'gray'), ('disposition', 'loud')])

myCat.values() prints: dict_values(['fat', 'gray', 'loud'])

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• The values returned by these methods are not true lists.

• They cannot be modified and do not have an append() method.
• These have data types (dict_keys, dict_values, and dict_items, respectively) can be used in for loops.

Ex:

myCat = {'size': 'fat', 'color': 'gray', 'disposition':

'loud'}
print('Type of type(myCat.keys()) is ',type(myCat.keys()))
print('Type of type(myCat.values()) is ',type(myCat.values()))
print('Type of type(myCat.items()) is ',type(myCat.items()))

Output:

print('Type of type(myCat.keys()) is ',type(myCat.keys()))

print('\nType of type(myCat.values()) is
',type(myCat.values()))
print('\nType of type(myCat.items()) is ',type(myCat.items()))

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16. Explain the usage of dictionary methods with for loop using suitable examples.

Hint:

• Keys() method returns the dictionary key entires

Ex:

for v in myCat.keys():
print(v)
Output:

size
color
disposition

• Items() method returns all items i.e all key-value pairs

Ex:

for v in myCat.items():
print(v)
Output:

('size', 'fat')
('color', 'gray')
('disposition', 'loud')

• Values() returns only the values in each dictionary entry.

Ex:

for v in myCat.values():
print(v)
Output

fat
gray
loud

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17. Explain the usage of in and not in operators for dictionaries with examples.

Hint:

myCat = {'size': 'fat', 'color': 'gray', 'disposition':

'loud'}
Expression Result
'fat' in myCat False
'fat' in myCat.items() False
'fat' in myCat.values() True
'color' in myCat.keys() True

<Explain not in operator with suitable example>

18. Explain the usage of get() method for dictionaries with a suitable example.

Hint:

myCat = {'name':'Ji-min','age(in yrs)': 4,'size': 'fat',

'color': 'gray', 'disposition': 'loud'}

'My cat '+ myCat.get('name',0) +' is of age ' +

str(myCat.get('age(in yrs)',0))+ '.'

Output:

'My cat Ji-min is of age 4.'

19. Explain the working and usage of the setdefault method for dictionary type.

Hint:

• Setdefault is used to set a value for a key only if that key does not already have a value.
• i.e. if previously a key exists and has a value then it will not be modified.

Ex:

#%% Existing key case

print('altering myCat\'s color to blue using setdefault()
method')
myCat.setdefault('color','blue')
print(myCat['color'])
Output:

altering myCat's color to blue using setdefault() method

gray

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• Else if a key is not present then it may be assigned a default value using this method.

Ex:

#%% Setdefault() for non-existing key

myCat.setdefault('eyes','green')
print('myCat\'s eyes are colored '+myCat.get('eyes','0')+'.')
Output:

myCat's eyes are colored green.

20. Write a program to count the charecters in a sentence using the setdefault method
for dictionaries.

Hint:

import pprint

message = 'I love it when a plan comes together!!'

count = {}
for character in message:
count.setdefault(character, 0)
count[character] = count[character] + 1
pprint.pprint(count)
Output:

{' ': 7,
'!': 2,
'I': 1,
'a': 2,
'c': 1,
'e': 5,
'g': 1,
'h': 2,
'i': 1,
'l': 2,
'm': 1,
'n': 2,
'o': 3,
'p': 1,
'r': 1,
's': 1,
't': 3,
'v': 1,
'w': 1}

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