dictionaries with nested lists

[ruari mactaggart]

can i write

dictionary[key][list][3]

to mean the 3rd item in the list that is the corresponding value for 'key' ?

[Alex Martelli]

ruari mactaggart wrote:

can i write

dictionary[key][list][3]

to mean the 3rd item in the list that is the corresponding value for 'key'
?

No, but you can write dictionary[key][2] for that purpose:

-- that[list] notation is unneeded and unsupported,
-- indices start from 0 so the 3rd one is indexed as [2]
Alex

[Joe Francia]

ruari mactaggart wrote:

can i write

dictionary[key][list][3]

to mean the 3rd item in the list that is the corresponding value for 'key' ?

You don't need the[list] part. Assuming you mean something like:

bands = {'beatles': ['john','paul','george','ringo']}

....then bands['beatles'][3] == 'ringo'

Peace,
Joe

[ruari mactaggart]

what if i mean
bands={'beatles':['john','paul','george','ringo'],['guitar','bass','guitar',
'drums']}

then i need to put bands['beatles'][1][3]='percussion'

i presume... ?

Joe Francia <us****@soraia.com> wrote in message
news:Jn**********************@news.easynews.com...

ruari mactaggart wrote:

can i write

>dictionary[key][list][3]
to mean the 3rd item in the list that is the corresponding value for

'key' ?
You don't need the[list] part. Assuming you mean something like:

bands = {'beatles': ['john','paul','george','ringo']}

...then bands['beatles'][3] == 'ringo'

Peace,
Joe

[Alex Martelli]

ruari mactaggart wrote:

what if i mean
bands={'beatles':['john','paul','george','ringo'],['guitar','bass','guitar', 'drums']}
Invalid syntax.
then i need to put bands['beatles'][1][3]='percussion'

If you mean that bands is a dictionaries of tuples of lists, yes, but you
need parentheses around the tuples (and I would suggest some formatting
for greater readability), e.g.:

bands = {'beatles': ( ['john', 'paul', 'george', 'ringo'],
['guitar', 'bass', 'guitar', 'drums'] )
}
Alex

[Raymond Hettinger]

[ruari mactaggart]

what if i mean
bands={'beatles':['john','paul','george','ringo'],['guitar','bass','guitar',
'drums']}

then i need to put bands['beatles'][1][3]='percussion'

i presume... ?

No need to presume.
Just fire up the interpreter and see.

Compared to comp.lang.python responders,
the results are instant, always accurate, and
immediately available for exploring alternatives.
Raymond Hettinger

[Francis Avila]

"ruari mactaggart" <ru***@charliefortune.com> wrote in message
news:bo**********@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...

what if i mean
bands={'beatles':['john','paul','george','ringo'],['guitar','bass','guitar', 'drums']}

then i need to put bands['beatles'][1][3]='percussion'

i presume... ?

If things are getting this complicated, you're probably better off a)
wrapping an interface to this dict using an object, or b) just using object
attributes and using those objects as dictionary items.

Oh, and you need to group those two lists into a single list or tuple....
--
Francis Avila