Reference library

Dictionaries & sets

Key–value maps, uniqueness, counting, grouping, and fast lookups.

6 matches
Dictionaries & sets easy

Check Invertible Mapping for Duplicate Values in Python

Detect duplicate values among (key, value) pairs to ensure the mapping is invertible, using a dictionary for O(1) lookups.

dictionary mapping duplicate-check
Python
def invertible_after_dedup(pairs):
    """
    Check whether a set of (key, value) pairs is invertible,
    i.e., no duplicate values exist for different keys.
    """
    seen = {}
    for key, value in pairs:
        if value in seen and seen[value] != key:
            return False, f"Duplicate value '{value}' for k…
17 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

Convert Lists and Dictionaries to Sets in Python

Convert lists of pairs into dictionaries and lists or dictionaries into sets using simple helper functions.

dict set conversion
Python
def convert_to_dict(data):
    """Convert list of tuples or lists into a dictionary."""
    return dict(data)


def convert_to_set(data):
    """Convert list or dictionary into a set of its keys/values."""
    if isinstance(data, dict):
        return set(data.keys())
    return set(data)


def convert_collection(data…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Count Co-occurrence Pairs in Python with Nested Dictionaries

This code counts how often any two items appear together in the same group, using a nested defaultdict keyed by item pairs.

dictionaries co-occurrence counter
Python
from itertools import combinations
from collections import defaultdict

def count_cooccurrences(items_per_group):
    cooccurrence = defaultdict(lambda: defaultdict(int))
    for group in items_per_group:
        for a, b in combinations(sorted(group), 2):
            cooccurrence[a][b] += 1
            cooccurrence[b…
12 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Find Keys with Matching Values in Two Dictionaries in Python

Find dictionary keys where both dictionaries have the exact same value by iterating over key-value pairs and comparing them.

dictionaries comparison data-matching
Python
def find_matching_values(dict1, dict2):
    """Return list of keys that have the same value in both dicts."""
    matches = []
    for key, value in dict1.items():
        if key in dict2 and dict2[key] == value:
            matches.append(key)
    return matches


if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example usage
    di…
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Group Data by Category in Python with a Split Data Helper

This code groups a list of (category, item) pairs into a dictionary where each key is a category and each value is a list of items belonging to that category.

dictionary grouping iterable
Python
def split_data(categories):
    """
    Group data items into buckets based on a key function.
    Returns a dict where keys are bucket names and values are lists of items.
    """
    buckets = {}
    for category, item in categories:
        if category not in buckets:
            buckets[category] = []
        buck…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Use defaultdict(set) in Python to Group Unique Values

Group key-value pairs into a dictionary of sets, automatically creating a new set for each key using defaultdict.

defaultdict sets dictionaries
Python
from collections import defaultdict

def track_groups(pairs):
    groups = defaultdict(set)
    for key, value in pairs:
        groups[key].add(value)
    return groups

if __name__ == "__main__":
    data = [
        ("fruit", "apple"),
        ("fruit", "banana"),
        ("fruit", "apple"),
        ("veg", "carrot…
15 0 Open

Browse by section

Each section groups closely related Python snippets.

Dictionaries & sets — Python code examples

What you will find here

This page collects dictionaries & sets snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.

Samples vs tutorials and challenges

Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.