LESSON 5: Iterables: Sequences, Dictionaries, and Sets

Topics Covered

Types of iterables available in Python.

Lists. T
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Tuples. um
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Ranges. No jagta gs to
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Dictionaries. h o riz
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Sets. sa m JA
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The *args and **kwargs parameters.

I did not like this iteration of one idea--this strange recurrence of one image, and I grew nervous as
bedtime approached and the hour of the vision drew near.
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– Jane isEyre, Charlotte Bronte
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Introduction No un agtapn gs to N
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Iterables are objects that can return pie c
members
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tuples, ranges, dictionaries, and sets. llo GT
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Definitions

Here are some quick definitions to provide an overview of the different types of objects we will be covering in this
lesson. Don’tT worry if the meanings aren’t entirely clear now. They will be when you finish the lesson.
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1. Sequences are iterables nt
be that can return members based on their position within the iterable. Examples of
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sequences are No agta lists,
strings,
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2. Lists are mutable (changeable) riz @ ANT similar to arrays in other programming languages.
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3. Tuples are immutable sequences. pie f.com WAR
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4. Ranges are immutable sequences of numbers often Pused d ! . in for loops.

5. Dictionaries are mappings that use arbitrary keys to map to values. Dictionaries are like associative arrays in
other programming languages.

6. Sets are mutable unordered collections of distinct immutable objects. So, while the set itself can be modified,
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it cannothibe
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Sequences

Sequences are iterables that can return members based on their position within the iterable. You have already
learned about one type of sequence: strings. Remember string indexing (see page 74):

Th world!'[1]
>>> 'Hello,
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That’s one way of getting NI
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The sequences we cover in this lessonc op ifare:
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1. Lists ! .

2. Tuples

3. Ranges

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Lists tb
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No agta gs to
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ilka in
Python’s lists are similarautotharrays Lother
K languages. Lists are created using square brackets, like this:
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colors = ["red", "blue", "green",ow"orange"] GT
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List Methods
Some of theTmost common list methods are shown in the following list:
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mylist.append(x) nt – Appends x to mylist.
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mylist.remove(x) ou to
tap– Removes first element with value of x from mylist. Errors if no such element is
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found.
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mylist.insert(i, x) – Inserts pie AR i.
xo at position
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mylist.count(x) – Returns the number d! of timesAthat
P. x appears in mylist.

mylist.index(x) – Returns the index position of the first element in mylist whose value is x or a
ValueError if no such element exists.

mylist.sort() – Sorts mylist.

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mylist.reverse() – Reverses the order of mylist.
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mylist.pop(n) – Removes lon and returns the element at position n in mylist. If n is not passed in, the last
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element in the list is popped (removed and returned).
 mylist.clear() – Removes all elements from mylist.

mylist.copy() – Returns a copy of mylist.

mylist.extend(anotherlist) – Appends anotherlist onto mylist.

The followingThcode
is illustrates how these methods are used. Try this out at the Python shell:
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>>> colors = ["red",No ja gs
gta"blue", "green", "orange"]
un pn to NI
>>> colors a uth i lk a L K
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['red', 'blue', 'green', d'orange'] HW
>>> colors.append("purple") #iesAppend
p AR
om purple
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>>> colors ed AP
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['red', 'blue', 'green', 'orange', 'purple']
>>> colors.remove("green") # Remove green from colors
>>> colors
['red', 'blue', 'orange', 'purple']
>>> colors.insert(2,
T "yellow") # Insert yellow in position 2
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>>> colors do
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['red', 'blue', 'yellow', 'orange', 'purple']
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jag ngs # Get position of orange
>>> colors.index("orange")
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ze colors
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>>> colors.sort() # Sort in place
>>> colors o pie .com WAR
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llo 'yellow']
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['blue', 'orange', 'purple', 'red', we AP
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>>> colors.reverse() # Reverse order of colors
>>> colors
['yellow', 'red', 'purple', 'orange', 'blue']
>>> colors.pop() # Remove and return last element
'blue'
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>>> colors.pop(1) # Remove and return element at position 1
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lon and red have been removed
>>> colors # Noticej blueg
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['yellow', 'purple',
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>>> colors_copy = colors.copy() @ AN # Create a copy of colors
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>>> colors_copy pie f.com WAR
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['yellow', 'purple', 'orange'] llo GT
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>>> colors.extend(colors_copy) # Append colors_copy ! . to colors
>>> colors
['yellow', 'purple', 'orange', 'yellow', 'purple', 'orange']
>>> colors_copy.clear() # Delete all elements from colors_copy
>>> colors_copy # Notice colors_copy is now empty
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[] is
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>>> del colors_copy
e # Delete colors_copy
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be gone
>>> colors_copy # It'slo ng
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Traceback (mostN recent
 File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'colors_copy' is not defined

Copying a List
Note again how we made a copy of the colors list:
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>>> colors = ["red", e"blue", lon "green", "orange"]
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>>> colors_copy =u colors.copy()
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>>> colors_copy ori nt@ ANT
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['red', 'blue', 'green', d'orange'] co diff.c H
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>>> colors_copy.sort() s all JA
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>>> colors_copy ! .
['blue', 'green', 'orange', 'red']
>>> colors
['red', 'blue', 'green', 'orange'] # colors remains unsorted

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You can see thatdsorting
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um colors_copy has no effect on the colors list. They are two distinct objects. Compare
en continues from the code above:
that to the following, whichtb
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>>> colors_copy2 = colors riz @ ANT
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>>> colors_copy2 co diff.c HW
pie o AR
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['red', 'blue', 'green', 'orange'] llo GT
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>>> colors_copy2.sort()
>>> colors_copy2
['blue', 'green', 'orange', 'red']
>>> colors
['blue', 'green', 'orange', 'red'] # Wait! colors is sorted too!
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>>> id(colors)d oc
2147162345152 um
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>>> id(colors_copy) elon
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2147163702400 # different
u pn idN than colors
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>>> id(colors_copy2) tho A
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2147162345152 # the same id co as ifcolors
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pie om AR
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! d .
Do you see what’s going on here? When you assign one variable to another, instead of making a copy, it just
creates a pointer to that object. If you modify one object, it affects both. The copy() method creates a brand new
identical object, so modifying the new object has no effect on the original.

Deleting
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The del statement ucan
me be used to delete elements or slices of elements from a list, like this:
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Demo 26: iterables/Demos/del_list.py
 1. colors = ['red', 'blue', 'green', 'orange', 'black']
2.
3. del colors[0] # deletes first element
4. print(colors) # ['blue', 'green', 'orange', 'black']
5.
6. del colors[1:3] # deletes 2nd and 3rd elements
7. print(colors)
T # ['blue', 'black']
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Sequences and un Random
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au nilka
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In the Math lesson, when we learned pieabout omtheWrandom
AR module (see page 62), we mentioned two methods that we
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were not yet ready to explore. Now, we aare: llo
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random.choice(seq)

Returns random element in seq.

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>>> import irandom
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en "blue", "green", "orange"]
>>> colors = ["red",
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>>> random.choice(colors)
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'orange' ILK
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>>> random.choice(colors) riz t@re NTE
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'green' pie f.com WAR
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random.shuffle(seq)

Shuffles seq in place.

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>>> import random
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>>> colors = ["red",t b "blue", "green", "orange"]
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>>> random.shuffle(colors)
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>>> colors tho kant
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['green', 'red', 'blue', ed'orange'] ES
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Exercise 16: Remove and Return Random Element

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10isto 20 minutes
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In this exercise, you will write a remove_random() function that removes a random element from a list and
returns it.

1. Open iterables/Exercises/remove_random.py in your editor.

2. Write the code for the remove_random() function so that it removes and returns a random element from the
passed-in list: the_list.
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3. is main() function so that it uses remove_random() to remove a random element from the
Modify the do
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colors list andmthen
en prints something like the following:
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The removed color
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r ize are re['red', T
The remaining colors dc dif ESH 'blue', 'orange'].
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Exercise Code: iterables/Exercises/remove_random.py

1. import random
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3. def remove_random(the_list):
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pass # replace this with your code
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def main(): nau il LK
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7. colors = ['red', d c rediff 'green',
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8. # Your code here ies m R
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10. main()

Solution: iterables/Solutions/remove_random.py
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1. import random me
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3. def remove_random(the_list):
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x = random.choice(the_list) n t AN
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5. the_list.remove(x) op iff.co HWA
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6. return x all JA
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7. ! .
8. def main():
9. colors = ['red', 'blue', 'green', 'orange']
10. removed_color = remove_random(colors)
11. print(f'The removed color was {removed_color}.')
12. Th
print(f'The remaining colors are {colors}.')
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14. main() elo
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Tuples
Tuples are like lists, but they are immutable: once created, they cannot be changed.

Get ready for a lie: Tuples are created using parentheses, like this:

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MAGENTA = (255,cum
0, 255)
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Wait, what??! Why areunyouau lyingil toNme?
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OK, the truth is that tuples are created pie withomcommasAR AND don’t require parentheses. You can create a tuple like
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MAGENTA = 255, 0, 255 # Avoid this

But just because

Th you can doesn’t mean you should. It’s a better idea to get used to including the parentheses,
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because sometimesdo you do need them. To illustrate, take a look at the following code:
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Demo 27: iterables/Demos/tuples.py
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1. def show_type(obj): ed SH
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2. print(type(obj)) p i es o m R
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4. # tuple created w/o parens (works but bad practice)
5. MAGENTA = 255, 0, 255
6. show_type(MAGENTA)
7.
8. # When
T passing a tuple to a function, you need parens:
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show_type((255, 0, 255))
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11. ng w/o parens to a function will error
# Passing the jatuple
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show_type(255, ilk NIL
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Code Explanation all JA
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The preceding code will render the following:

<class 'tuple'>
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<class 'tuple'>
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oc recent call last):
Traceback (most um
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File "c:/Webucator/Python/iterables/Demos/tuples.py", line 12, in <module>
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 show_type( 255, 0, 255 )
TypeError: show_type() takes 1 positional argument but 3 were given

1. On line 5, the MAGENTA tuple is created without using parentheses.

2. Th MAGENTA to the show_type() function, we see that MAGENTA is indeed a tuple.

By passing
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On line 9, the tuple nt
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4. On line 12, the tuple au (well,il L 255, 0, 255 (constructed without parentheses) is passed to the
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show_type() function.izIn r T
edthisrecase, EPython
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separate arguments. As the function p ies oonly AR
m expects one argument, this results in an error:
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TypeError: show_type() takes 1 positional argument but 3 were given

The takeaway Th here is: Always use parentheses when creating tuples.
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Remember Constants elon
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The MAGENTA variable above au nialkagood Iconstant
LK (see page 18). The values represent the amounts of red, green, and blue in the color
magenta.
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When to Use a Tuple llo
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.
While lists are used for holding collections of like data, tuples are meant for holding heterogeneous collections of
data. In tuples, the position of the element is meaningful. To illustrate, let’s consider our MAGENTA constant again:

MAGENTA = (255, 0, 255)

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The values in the tuple correspond
elo to RGB (red, green, blue) color values. Magenta is created by mixing full red
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(255) with full blue (255)
o u andg s
ta no green
to (0).
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Other use cases for tuples include: d c rediff ESH
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1. X-Y Coordinates (e.g, (55, -23)) ed! AP
.

2. Latitude-Longitude Coordinates (e.g., (43.0298, -76.0044))

3. Geometric Shapes (notice that these are tuples of tuples):

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line =his((-40,
d 10), (-80, 170))
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triangle = u((140,
me 200), (180, 270), (335, 180))
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rectangle = ((40, lo100),
n (80, 170), (235, 80), (195, 10))
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 Turtle Graphics

For a little fun, open and run the iterables/Demos/shapes.py file. It uses turtle
(https://docs.python.org/3/library/turtle.html), a built-in graphics library, to draw shapes from tuples of coordinates.

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Empty and Single-element Tuples
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You’re unlikely to have meto create empty or single-element tuples very often, but in case you do…
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No ja gta gs to
Empty Tuple un p NI
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tho nt@ KAN
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t_empty = () sa JA
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d! .

Single Element Tuple

To create a single-element tuple, follow the element with a comma, like this:

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t_single = ("a",) nt
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No jagta gs to
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If you do not include theacomma, KA get a string as illustrated in the following code:
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>>> t1 = ("a",) o we GT
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>>> type(t1)
<class 'tuple'>
>>> t2 = ("a")
>>> type(t2)
<class 'str'>
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Ranges Nou ta to
na pnilk NIL
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ori nt@of numbers
A range is an immutable sequence NT often used in for loops, which will be covered in the Flow Control
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lesson (see page 170). Ranges are .co using
opcreated WA range(), which can take one, two, or three arguments:
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range(stop)
range(start, stop)
range(start, stop, step)

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The following examples show the options for creating a range:
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 range(10) # range starting at 0 and ending at 9
range(5, 11) # range starting at 5 and ending at 10
range(0, 13, 3) # range starting at 0, ending at 12, in steps of 3
range(4, -4, -1) # range starting at 4, ending at -3, in steps of -1

Note that the stop number is not included in the range. You should read it as "from start up to but not including
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stop." is
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Converting Sequences lon to Lists
No ja gta gs to
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The easiest way to seenhow au ranges il
tho kant work
LK in the Python shell is to convert them into lists first as shown in the
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following code: r ize @ T
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>>> list(range(10)) ! .

[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
>>> list(range(5, 11))
[5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
>>> list(range(0, 13, 3))
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is 12]
[0, 3, 6, 9, do
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me 4))
>>> list(range(-4,n tb
elo 2, 3]
[-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1,
ja ng
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gta
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pn
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uth kan ILKA
i l
ori t@ NT
zediscuss
We will revisit ranges when we d c rediffor ESloops.
op f .co HWA
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all JA
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Converting a Sequence to a List ! .

You can convert any type of sequence to a list with the list() function:

>>> coords = (55, -23)

>>> list(coords)
[55, -23]
T
his world!")
>>> list("Hello,
do
cu 'o', ',', ' ', 'w', 'o', 'r', 'l', 'd', '!']
['H', 'e', 'l', 'l',
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Indexing t h ori n t AN
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In the Strings lesson, you learnedohow pie to
sa m
cofind specific
AR characters within a string using indexing and slicing (see
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page 74). All sequences can be indexed and l G
ow sliced in thisTA way.
ed P.
!

Again, indexing is the process of finding a specific element within a sequence of elements through the element’s
position. If we consider a sequence from left to right, the first element (the left-most) is at position 0. If we consider
a sequence from right to left, the first element (the right-most) is at position -1.

The followingThcode
is shows how to use indexing with a list, but the same can be done with any sequence type. Try
do
this out in the Pythoncu shell:
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nt
be
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N ja g gs
 >>> fruit = ['apple', 'orange', 'banana', 'pear', 'lemon', 'watermelon']
>>> fruit[0]
'apple'
>>> fruit[-1]
'watermelon'
>>> fruit[4]
'lemon' Th
is
>>> fruit[-3]doc
um
en
'pear' tb
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No jagta gs to
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au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
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pie
Exercise 17: SimplesRock, all
o m Paper,
R
JA Scissors Game
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15 to 20 minutes

1. Open iterables/Exercises/roshambo.py
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2. Write the main() me function so that it:
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be
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A. CreatesNa sequence jag ngswith three elements: “Rock”, “Paper”, and “Scissors”.
ou tap to
na n N
uth ilkan ILKA
B. Makes a randomochoice riz t@for the
N computer and stores it in a variable.
ed red TES
co iff. H
C. Prompts the user with 1 pfor om WAR
ies cRock, 2 Jfor Paper, 3 for Scissors:
all AG
ow TA
ed P.
D. Prints out the computer’s choice and ! then the user’s choice.

The program should run like this:

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is
oc d
um Paper, 3 for Scissors: 1
1 for Rock, 2 for
en
Computer: Scissors t bel
on
User: Rock No jagta gs to
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au nilka L
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Exercise Code: iterables/Exercises/roshambo.pyllo GT
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d! .

1. import random
2.
3. def main():
4. pass # replace this with your code
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6. main() tb
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Solution: iterables/Solutions/roshambo.py

1. import random
2.
3. def main():
4. roshambo = ["Rock", "Paper", "Scissors"]
5. Th
is
6. do
computer_choice = random.choice(roshambo)
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7. en
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elo
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8.
No jagta gfor
num = input("1 s t Rock, 2 for Paper, 3 for Scissors: ")
o
u p
9. na
num = int(num) n il-k 1 NIL
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th nt AN
10. user_choice =oriroshambo[num]
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dif SH
dc
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12. ow
print("Computer:", computer_choice) GT
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13. print("User:", user_choice)
! .

14.
15. main()

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Slicing cu
m en
tb
elo a slice or segment of a sequence as a new sequence. The syntax is as follows:
Slicing is the process ofj gettingn
No agta gs to
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c
sub_sequence = orig_sequence[first_pos:last_pos] HW
pie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .
This returns a slice that starts with the element at first_pos and includes all the elements up to but not including
the element at last_pos.

If first_pos is left out, then it is assumed to be 0. For example:

Th
is
do
cu
me "d", "e"][:3]
>>> ["a", "b", "c",
n tb
['a', 'b', 'c']
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
r e
ed assumed ES
If last_pos is left out, then it is co diff.c to be HWthe length of the sequence, or in other words, one more than the
pie o AR
last position of the sequence. For example: sa m JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .

>>> ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e"][3:]

['d', 'e']

T
The following hcode
is
do shows how to slice a list, but the same can be done with any sequence type. Try this out in the
Python shell: cu
me
nt
be
lon
N ja g gs
>>> fruit = ["apple", "orange", "banana", "pear", "lemon", "watermelon"]
>>> fruit[0:5]
['apple', 'orange', 'banana', 'pear', 'lemon']
>>> fruit[1:4]
['orange', 'banana', 'pear']
>>> fruit[4:]
['lemon', T'watermelon']
his
do
>>> fruit[-3:] cu
m
['pear', 'lemon', e'watermelon']
nt
b elo
>>> fruit[:3] N ja ng
o u gtap s to N
['apple', 'orange', nil
na 'banana']ILK
u an k tho
t@ ANT riz
>>> fruit[-4:-1] ed re ES
co diff.c HW
p
['banana', 'pear', 'lemon'] ie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
>>> fruit[:] we AP
d! .
['apple', 'orange', 'banana', 'pear', 'lemon', 'watermelon']

Exercise
Th
i
18: Slicing Sequences
sd
oc
um
en
tb
elo
10 to 20 jag ngs
Nominutes t t
un apni o NI
au lka LK
tho n A
riz t@re NTE
ed d SH
co if
1. Open iterables/Exercises/slicing.py pie f.com WAR in your editor.
sa JA
llo GT
we AP list that contains two lists: the first and second half of
2. Write the split_list() function so that d ! it returns a.
the original list. For example, when passed [1, 2, 3, 4], split_list() will return [ [1, 2], [3,
4] ].

3. If the original list has an odd number of elements, the function should put the extra element in the first list. For
example, when passed [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], split_list() will return [ [1, 2, 3], [4, 5] ].
Th
is
do
cu
me
nt
be
When you run the program, loitnshould output:
No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
riz red TES
["red", "blue", "green"] d c
e
op iff.co HWA
ies m R
['orange', 'purple'] all JA
ow GT
ed AP
! .

Exercise Code: iterables/Exercises/slicing.py

1. import
T math
his
2. do
cu
en m
3. def split_list(orig_list):
t be
lo
4.
N jag ngthis
pass # replace s with your code
 5.
6. def main():
7. colors = ["red", "blue", "green", "orange", "purple"]
8. colors_split = split_list(colors)
9. print(colors_split[0])
10. print(colors_split[1])
11.
Th
12. main()is do
cu
men
tb
elo
n
No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka
Solution: iterables/Solutions/slicing.py L
tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
ed SH
co diff.c
pie om WAR
1. import math sa JA
llo GT
we AP
2. d! .
3. def split_list(orig_list):
4. list_len = len(orig_list)
5. mid_pos = math.ceil(list_len/2)
6. list1 = orig_list[:mid_pos]
7. Th
list2 = orig_list[mid_pos:]
is
d
oc [list1, list2]
8. returnum
en
-------Lines 9t bthrough
e 16 Omitted-------
lon
No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
riz red TES
ed
min(), max(), and sum() c op iff.co HWA
ies m R
all JA
ow GT
min(iter) and max(iter) ed AP
! .
The min(iter) function returns the smallest value of the passed-in iterable.

The max(iter) function returns the largest value of the passed-in iterable.

Th
is
do
cu
m
>>> colors = ["red", "blue", "green", "orange", "purple"]
en
tb
>>> min(colors) elo
ja ng
'blue' N ou g tap s to
na n N
>>> max(colors) uth ilkan ILKA
ori t N
ze @red TES
'red' dc iff.c H
op om WAR
>>> ages = [27, 4, 15, 99,ies 33, all 25] JA
ow GT
>>> min(ages) ed AP
! .
4
>>> max(ages)
99

Th
is
do uppercase letters are “smaller” than lowercase letters:
Note that, for strings,
cu
me
nt
be
lon
N ja g gs
 >>> min("NatDunn")
'D'

min() and max() with Multiple Arguments

The min() and max() functions can also take multiple arguments to compare. This is covered in the Math (see page 57) and Strings (see page
103) lessons. Th
is
do
cu
men
sum(iter[, start]) tb
elo
N jag ngs
The sum() function otakes to
tap iterable
un an ni NI and adds up all of its elements and then adds the result to start (if it is
passed in). For example:autho lkant LKAN
riz @ TE
ed re SH
co diff.c
pie om WAR
sa JA
llo GT
>>> nums = range(1, 6) we AP
d! .
>>> sum(nums) # 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5
15
>>> sum(nums, 10)
25

Th
is
do
cu
men
tb
Converting Sequences
elo
n
to Strings with str.join(seq)
No jagta gs to
p
un a string N
The join() method of au nilkajoinsILthe elements of a sequence of strings on the given string. For example:
tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
ed SH
co diff.c
pie om WAR
sa JA
>>> colors = ["red", "blue", "green", llo GT
we "orange"] AP
d! .
>>> ','.join(colors)
'red,blue,green,orange'
>>> ', '.join(colors) # space after comma
'red, blue, green, orange'
>>> ':'.join(colors)
hisT
'red:blue:green:orange'
d oc
um
>>> ' '.join(colors)
e nt
b
elo
'red blue green orange' n
No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
riz r TE
ed ifeany
Note, the join() method will error of Sthe
H elements in the sequence is not a string.
co diff.c
pie om WAR
sa JA
llo GT
Splitting Strings into Lists we AP
d! .
The split() method of a string splits the string into substrings. By default it splits on whitespace. For example:

>>> sentence = 'We are no longer the Knights Who Say "Ni!"'
hisT
>>> list_of_words = sentence.split()
do
cu
>>> list_of_wordsm en
t
['We', 'are', 'no', b'longer',
elo 'the', 'Knights', 'Who', 'Say', '"Ni!"']
ja ng
N g s
split() takes an optional sep parameter to specify the separator:

>>> fruit = "apple, banana, pear, melon"

>>> fruit.split(",")
['apple', ' banana', ' pear', ' melon']
Th
is
do
cu
Notice the extra space mebefore “ banana”, “ pear”, and “ melon”. To get rid of that space, you can specify a multi-
nt
be
character separator, like this: lon
No ja gta gs to
un p NI
au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
ed pear, SH
>>> fruit = "apple, banana, co diff.c melon"
pie om WAR
>>> fruit.split(", ") sa JA
llo GT
we AP
['apple', 'banana', 'pear', 'melon']d! .

split() takes a second optional parameter, maxsplit, to indicate the maximum number of times to split the
string. For example:

Th
is
do
cu
me banana, pear, melon"
>>> fruit = "apple,
n tb
>>> fruit.split(", ",elo2)
n
No jagta gs to
['apple', 'banana', pn
u 'pear, melon']
N
na IL ilka
nt@ KAN
uth
ori
ze T
d c rediff ESH
op .co WA
ies same
Notice pear and melon are part of the m stringR element. That’s because the string stopped splitting after two
all JA
ow GT
splits. ed AP
! .

The splitlines() Method

The splitlines() method of a string splits a string into a list on line boundaries (i.e., line feeds (\n) and carriage
returns (\r)). For example:
Th
is
do
cu
me
>>> fruit = """apple nt
be
lon
banana No jagta gs to
un p NI
pear au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
melon""" riz r e TE
ed SH
co diff.c
>>> fruit.splitlines() pie om WAR
sa JA
llo GT
['apple', 'banana', 'pear', 'melon'] we AP
d! .

The splitlines() method is really useful when reading files. Consider the following text file:

Demo 28: iterables/data/states.txt

Th
is
do
cu
1. Alabama AL men
tb
2. Alaska AK elo
ja ng
N g s
 3. Arizona AZ
4. Arkansas AR
5. California CA
-------Lines 6 through 50 Omitted-------

Code Explanation
Th
is
do
The file is a listing cofumstates in the United States. Each line lists the name of the state and its abbreviation,
en
separated by a newline. t be
lon
No jagta gs to
un pn
The following code can abe uthusedilkato Nread
ILK this file into a list:
ori nt@ ANT
ze
d c rediff ESH
op . WA
Demo 29: iterables/Demos/states.py ies com R
all JA
ow GT
ed AP
! .
1. def main():
2. with open('../data/states.txt') as f:
3. states = f.read().splitlines()
4.
5. Th
print(f'The file contains {len(states)} states.')
is
do
6. cu
men
7. main() tb
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
Code Explanation riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c HW
pie o AR
sa m
This will read the states from the file intollao list. Run Jthe
AG file:
we TA
d! P.

PS …\iterables\Demos> python states.py

The file contains 50 states.

Th
is
As you will soon dsee,
oc having the data in a list makes it much easier to work with.
um
en
tb
elo
n
Unpacking Sequences No agta gs to
j
un pn
au ilka NILK
t h ori nt@ Aassignment
We learned earlier about simultaneous NT (see page 16), which allows you to assign values to multiple
ze
variables at once, like this: d c rediff ESH
op . WA
ies com R
all JA
ow GT
ed AP
! .
>>> first_name, last_name, company = "Nat", "Dunn", "Webucator"
>>> first_name
'Nat'
>>> last_name
'Dunn' Th
is
do
>>> company cu
men
'Webucator' tb
elo
jag ng
N s
You can use the same concept to unpack a sequence into multiple variables, like this:

>>> about_me = ("Nat", "Dunn", "Webucator")

>>> first_name, last_name, company = about_me
>>> first_name
'Nat'
Th
is
>>> last_name do
cu
'Dunn'
me
n tb
elo
>>> company n
No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka
'Webucator'
L
tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
ed SH
co diff.c
pie om WAR
sa JA
llo GT
Dictionaries we
d! AP
.
Dictionaries are mappings that use arbitrary keys to map to values. They are like associative arrays in other
programming languages. Dictionaries are created with curly braces and comma-delimited key-value pairs, like this:

Th {
>>> dict = is
do
'key1':cum
'value 1',
en
t b 2',
'key2': 'valuee lo
jag n3'g
tap s to
'key3':No'value
nil un
NI
auLK
} tho kant
riz @ ANT
>>> dict['key2'] = 'new e d c re2'
value d #ES assign new value to existing key
op iff.co HWA
>>> dict['key4'] = 'value 4' # i m
es assign value
R
all JA to new key
ow G
>>> print(dict['key1']) # print value ed of key TAP
! .
value 1

And here is a file showing a dictionary with meaningful content:

Th
is
Demo 30: iterables/Demos/dict.py
do
cu
me
nt
be
1. grades = { lon
No jagta gs to
un 97, p NI
2. "English": au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
"Math": 93, riz
3.
ed red TES
4. "Global Studies": c85, op iff.co HWA
ies m R
all JA
5. "Art": 74, ow GT
ed AP
6. "Music": 86 ! .
7. }
8.
9. grades["Global Studies"] = 87 # assign new value to existing key
10. grades["Gym"] = 100 # assign value to new key
Th
11. is
do
cu
12. me
print(grades["Math"]) # print value of key
n tb
elo
jag ng
N s
 Common Dictionary Methods
The code samples for the methods that follow assume this dictionary:

grades = {
"English": 97,
Th 93,
"Math":is
do
"Art": 74, cum
en
"Music": 86 tb
elo
n
} No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
ed SH
co diff.c
pie om WAR
sa JA
mydict.get(key[, default]) llo GT
we AP
d! .
Returns the value for key if it is in mydict. Otherwise, it returns default if passed in or None if it is not.

>>> grades.get('English')
97
Th
is
do
>>> grades.get('French') # returns None
cu
me
>>> grades.get('French', 0)
n tb
0
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c HW
pie o AR
mydict.pop(key[, default]) sa m JA
llo GT
we
Removes and returns the value of key if it is in! mydict.AOtherwise,
d P. it returns default if passed in or a KeyError
if it is not.

>>> grades.pop('English')
97 Th
is
>>> grades # dNotice
oc
u 'English' has been removed
me
nt 74, 'Music': 86}
{'Math': 93, 'Art': be
lo
jag ngs
>>> grades.pop('English')
N
po ta to
un Nlast):
au ncall
Traceback (most recent il ILK
tho kant AN
File "<stdin>", line ri1,
@ TE
ze in r<module>
dife dcS
f. HW op
KeyError: 'English' ies com AR
all JA
ow
>>> grades.pop('English', 'Not found') GT
ed AP
! .
'Not found'

mydict.popitem()
Th
is
do
cu
m
Removes and returns ethe
nt last key/value pair entered as a tuple. 27
be
lon
N ja g gs
 >>> grades.popitem()
('Music', 86)
>>> grades # Notice 'Music' has been removed
{'Math': 93, 'Art': 74}

T
his
mydict.copy() d oc
um
en
tb
elo
n
No jagta gs to
Returns a copy of mydict.
un p NI
au nilka L
tho nt@ KAN
riz re ofTE
This works just like the copy()edmethod lists
SH (see page 115):
co diff.c WA
pie o
sa m R
JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .
>>> grades_copy = grades.copy()
>>> grades['English'] = 94 # Add 'English' back to grades
>>> grades['Music'] = 100 # Add 'Music' back to grades
>>> grades # Notice they're back
{'Math': 93, 'Art': 74, 'English': 94, 'Music': 100}
Th
is
do # But grades_copy still has the old data
>>> grades_copy
cu
en 74}
{'Math': 93, 'Art':
m
tb
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c
mydict.clear() HW
pie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .
Removes all elements form mydict.

>>> grades.clear()
>>> grades # Dictionary is now empty
Th
{} is
do
cu
men
tb
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
update()
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c HW
pie o AR
sa m JA pairs to a dictionary or to overwrite the values of existing keys
The update() method is used to add new llo key/value GT
we
or both. It can take several types of arguments. d! ConsiderAthe
P. following dictionary:

grades = {
"English": 97,
Th 93,
"Math":is
do
"Art": 74, cum
en
"Music": 86 tb
elo
jag ng
} N s
All three of the following statements would modify the value of the "Math" key and add a new "Gym" key:

grades.update({"Math": 97, "Gym": 93}) # argument is dict with keys

grades.update(Math=97, Gym=93) # individual arguments
grades.update([('Math',
T 97), ('Gym', 93)]) # argument is list of tuples
his
do
cu
men
tb
elo
The update() Method n
No jagta gs to
un pn NI
au key ilkaa dictionary,
L
tho in
Note that when updating a single nt@ KAN it is possible to use the update() method, but it is generally preferable to use the subscript
r ize T
d c rediff ESH
syntax:
op . WA
ies com R
grades['Math'] = 97 all JA
ow GT
ed AP
! .

setdefault()

Th
is
do
The setdefault(key, default) method works like this:
cu
me
nt
be
lon
If key does not No agtin
exist
j gs dictionary, key is added with a value of default.
the
un a pn to NI
au il L
tho kant theKAvalue
If key exists in the dictionary, N for key is left unchanged.
riz @
ed red TES
co if H
pie f.com WAR
sa JA
llo GT
we AP
The following example illustrates how setdefault() d! works:
.

Demo 31: iterables/Demos/setdefault.py

1. grades = {
2. Th
"English": 97,
is
do
cu 93,
3. "Math":m en
4.
t
"Art": 74, belo
j
No 86ag ngs
5. "Music":
pnta to
ilun NI
au LK
tho kant
@ ANT
6. }
riz re ES
ed
7. co diff.c H
p om WAR
8. grades.setdefault("Art",ies87) all # Art key
JA exists. No change.
ow GT
9. print("Art grade:", grades["Art"]) ed AP
! .
10.
11. grades.setdefault("Gym", 97) # Gym key is new. Added and set.
12. print("Gym grade:", grades["Gym"])

Th
is
Code Explanationdo
cu
men
tb
elo
The preceding code willj render ng the following:
N a g s
 Art grade: 74
Gym grade: 97

Notice that the value of the Art key did not change. setdefault() really means
add_key_unless_key_already_exists().

T
When to Use hsetdefault()
is
do
cu
me
nt
Imagine you are creating baedictionary
lon of grades from data in a file or a database. You cannot be sure what data that
Noyoujagneed gs
source contains, but t grades
t for four specific subjects. You can populate your dictionary using the external
un apni o NI
a
data, and then use setdefault()
uth lk a L
toKmake sure you have data for all keys:
ori nt@ ANT
ze r
d c ediff ESH
op . WA
ies com R
all JA
grades = get_data() # Imaginary function o we GT returns dictionary
that
d! AP
.
grades.setdefault('English') = 0
grades.setdefault('Math') = 0
grades.setdefault('Art') = 0
grades.setdefault('Music') = 0

Th
is
do
cu
The grade for any one meof the keys in the setdefault() calls will only be 0 if the dictionary returned by
nt
get_data() doesn’t include be that key.
lon
No agta gs to
j
un p NI
au nilka L
Dictionary View Objects tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
ed SH
co diff.c WA
The following three methods return pdictionary
ies om view Robjects:
all JA
ow GT
ed AP
! .

mydict.keys()

Th
mydict.values()
is
do
cu
men
tb
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
mydict.items()nau p n N
uth ilkan ILKA
ori t N
ze @red TES
dc iff. HW
op
ies com AR
all JA
ow GT
ed AP
! .
Try this out in Python interactive mode:

>>> grades = {
"English": 97,
Th
is
"Math":
d 93,
oc
me u
"Art": 75 n tb
} elo
jag ng
N s
 >>> grades.keys()
dict_keys(['English', 'Math', 'Art'])
>>> grades.values()
dict_values([97, 93, 75])
>>> grades.items()
dict_items([('English', 97), ('Math', 93), ('Art', 75)])

Th
is
do
cu
As you can see, dict_keys and dict_values look like simple lists and dict_items looks like a list of tuples.
me
nt
be they differ in two important ways:
But while they look like lists, lon
No jagta gs to
un p NI
aunot nsupport
il LK
1. Dictionary views do tho kant indexing or slicing as they have no set order.
riz @ ANT
ed red ES
co if HW
2. Dictionary views cannot be modified. pie f.coThey provide dynamic views into a dictionary. When the dictionary
A
sa m R
JA
changes, the views will change. llow GT
ed AP
! .

Consider the following:

Demo 32: iterables/Demos/dict_views.py

Th
is
do
cu
1. grades = { men
tb
2. "English": 97, elo
n
No agta gs to
j
3. "Math": u93,na p n N
uth ilkan ILKA
ori t85, N
ze @red TES
4. "Global Studies":
dc
5. "Art": 74, op iff.co HWA
ies m R
6. "Music": 86 all JA
ow GT
ed AP
7. } ! .
8.
9. gradepoints = grades.values()
10. print("Grade points:", gradepoints)
11.
12.
T
his
grades["Art"] = 87
do
cu points:", gradepoints)
13. m
print("Grade
en
tb
elo
n
No agta gs to
j
un pn NI
Code Explanation au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c HW
The output: pie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .

Grade points: dict_values([97, 93, 85, 74, 86])

Grade points: dict_values([97, 93, 85, 87, 86])

Th Art grade changes in the output (from 74 to 87). There was no need to reassign grade.values()
Notice that the is
d
to gradepointsoas cu gradepoints provides a dynamic view into the grades dictionary.
me
nt
be
lon
ja
To get a list from a Ndictionary
g view,gs use the list() method:
 >>> grades = {
"English": 97,
"Math": 93,
"Art": 75
}
>>> list(grades.keys())
['English',
T 'Math', 'Art']
his
do
>>> list(grades.values())
c um
en
[97, 93, 75] tb
elo
n
No jagta gs to
>>> list(grades.items())
p
[('English', 97),un('Math', NI
au nilk 93),LK ('Art', 75)]
an tho
t@ ANT riz
ed re ES
co diff.c HW
pie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
we AP
Deleting Dictionary Keys d! .

The del statement can be used to delete a specific key from a dictionary, like this:

Demo 33: iterables/Demos/del_dict.py

Th
is
1. grades =do{c
um
en 97,
2. "English": tb
elo
3. "Math": jag ng
N 93, ou oN tap st
na n ILK
4. uth ilkan 85,
"Global Studies":
ori t@ ANT
5. "Art": 74, ze re ES dif
dc f. HW
op
6. "Music": 86 ies com AR
all JA
7. } ow GT
ed AP
! .
8.
9. del grades["Math"] # deletes Math key
10. print(grades)

Th
is
oc d
The len() Function
um
en
tb
e
The len() function canj be loused n to determine the number of characters in a string or the number of objects in a list,
No agta gs to
tuple, dictionary, or set:
un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c H
pie om WAR
>> len("hello") s all JA
ow GT
5 e d! AP
.
>>> len( ["a", "b", "c"] )
3
>>> len( (255, 0, 255) )
3
Th
>>> len({"Math": 97, "Music": 86, "Global Studies": 85})
is
do
3 cu
men
tb
elo
jag ng
N s
 Exercise 19: Creating a Dictionary from User Input

15 to 25 minutes

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Open iterables/Exercises/gradepoints.py in your editor.
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2. Write the main()nfunction
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A. Creates ao gradesun apnidictionaryoN
IL and populates it with grades entered by the user in English, Math, Global
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Studies, Art, and t hoMusic. nt@ KAN
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co diff.c WA
B. Determines the average pgrade ies oand m printsR it out. Note, to do this you will need to convert the user input to
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integers. o we
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.

The program should run as follows:

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English grade:do 98
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Math grade: 89
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Global Studies grade:
ja 79 ng
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Art grade: 91 u oN pn
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Music grade: 84 ze @red TES
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Your average is 88.2 AR
all JA
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Challenge

After printing the average, ask the user to change the grade in one subject and then get the new average and print
it out. Hint: you will have to prompt the user twice, once for the subject and once for the grade.
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Solution: iterables/Solutions/gradepoints.py
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1. def main(): No jagta gs to
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2. grades = {} tho nt@ KAN
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ed = int(input("English
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co diff.c
3. grades["English"] grade: "))
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4. grades["Math"] = int(input("Math i es m R grade: "))
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5. grades["Global Studies"] =edint(input("Global AP Studies grade: "))
! .
6. grades["Art"] = int(input("Art grade: "))
7. grades["Music"] = int(input("Music grade: "))
8.
9. gradepoints = grades.values()
10. Th
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11. do
averagec = sum(gradepoints)/len(gradepoints)
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12. tb
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13. print("Your ng
jag average is", average)
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 14.
15. main()

Challenge Solution: iterables/Solutions/gradepoints-challenge.py

1.
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def avg(gradepoints):
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2. averagem en
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3. return averagelo n
4. No jagta gs to
un p NI
au nilka L
5. def main(): tho nt@ KAN
riz re TE
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6. grades = {} co diff.c
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7. sa
grades["English"] = int(input("English JA grade: "))
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8. grades["Math"] = int(input("Math d! P. "))
grade:
9. grades["Global Studies"] = int(input("Global Studies grade: "))
10. grades["Art"] = int(input("Art grade: "))
11. grades["Music"] = int(input("Music grade: "))
12.
13. Th
gradepoints = grades.values()
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average = tavg(gradepoints)
15. be
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16. ja gta
No g s
n pn to NI
u
a i lk Lis", average)
ho ant@ KAN
17. print("Yourut average
riz re TE
18. ed SH
co diff.c WA
19. subject = input("Choose p i es o m
a subjectR to change your grade: ")
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GT
20. new_grade = input("What ow is
ed your new A"P + subject + " grade? ")
! .
21. grades[subject] = int(new_grade)
22. average = avg(gradepoints)
23.
24. print("Your new average is", average)
25. Th
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26. main() doc
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No agta gs to
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Code Explanation un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
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Note that, as our program now requires co diffcalculating
H the average more than one time, we have moved that
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functionality into a new avg() function.al s JA
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Sets
Sets are mutable unordered collections of distinct immutable objects. So, while the set itself can be modified, it
cannot be populated with objects that can be modified. You can also think of sets as dictionaries in which the keys
have no values. In fact, they can be created with curly braces, just like dictionaries:
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>>> classes = {"English", be
lon "Math", "Global Studies",
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N"Art",a gs
g "Music"}
 >>> type(classes)
<class 'set'>

Sets are less commonly used than the other iterables we’ve looked at in this lesson, but one great use for sets is to
remove duplicates from a list as shown in the following example:

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>>> veggies = o["tomato",
cu "spinach", "pepper", "pea", "tomato", "pea"]
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>>> v_set = set(veggies) # converts to set and remove duplicates
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>>> v_set No jagta gs to
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au 'spinach', LK 'pea'}
{'pepper', 'tomato',
tho kant AN
r @
ize # converts T
>>> veggies = list(v_set) d c rediff ESHback to list
op . WA
>>> veggies ies com R
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['pepper', 'tomato', 'spinach', 'pea'] o we GT
d! AP
.

This is often done in a single step, like this:

Th = ["tomato", "spinach", "pepper", "pea", "tomato", "pea"]

>>> veggiesis
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>>> veggies = list(set(veggies))
en
# remove duplicates
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No agta gs to
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You could also create anaremove_dups()
uth ilkan ILKA function:
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def remove_dups(the_list): ow GT
ed AP
return list(set(the_list)) ! .

veggies = ["tomato", "spinach", "pepper", "pea", "tomato", "pea"]

veggies = remove_dups(veggies)

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veggies will now ccontain:
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No agta gs to
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un pn NI
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au 'spinach', LK 'pea']
['pepper', 'tomato',
tho kant
riz @ ANT
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co diff.c HW
pie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
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*args and **kwargs d! .

When defining a function, you can include two special parameters to accept an arbitrary number of arguments:

*args – A parameter that begins with a single asterisk will accept an arbitrary number of non-keyworded
Th and store them in a tuple. Often the variable is named *args, but you can call it whatever you
arguments
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want (e.g., d*people
oc or *colors). Note that any parameters that come after *args in the function signature
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are keyword-onlyenparameters.
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**kwargs – N g
A parameter sthat begins with two asterisks will accept an arbitrary number of keyworded
 arguments and store them in a dictionary. Often the variable is named **kwargs, but, as with *args, you
can call it whatever you want (e.g., **people or **colors. When included, **kwargs must be the last
parameter in the function signature.

The parameters in a function definition must appear in the following order:

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Non-keyword-only parameters that are required (i.e., have no defaults).
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2. Non-keyword-onlyntparameters
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3. *args un apni o NI
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4. Keyword-only parametersed(with co or
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5. **kwargs llo GT
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Using *args
Earlier, we saw a function that looked like this:
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def add_nums(num1, ntnum2, be num3=0, num4=0, num5=0):
lon
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a + num3 + num4 + num5
o u gtap s to N
sum = num1 N+ num2
n a nil ILK num3, "+",
print(num1, "+",u num2,
tho kant"+", AN
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ize " r=e ", TE
num4, "+", num5, dc dif sum) SH
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This works fine if you know that there will be between two and . five numbers passed into add_nums(), but you can
use *args to allow the function to accept an arbitrary number of numbers:

Demo 34: iterables/Demos/add_nums.py

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def add_nums(num, *nums):
d oc
u
2. total =msum(nums,
en num)
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3. print(f"The esum
lon of {nums} and {num} is {total}.")
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4. u oN pn
na
uth lkan ILKA
i
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ze @red TES
5. def main():
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6. add_nums(1, 2) pie f.com WAR
7. add_nums(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)allo
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d! AP
8. add_nums(11, 12, 13, 14) .
9. add_nums(101, 201, 301)
10.
11. main()

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Code Explanationdo
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This will output: N jag ngs
 The sum of (2,) and 1 is 3.
The sum of (2, 3, 4, 5) and 1 is 15.
The sum of (12, 13, 14) and 11 is 50.
The sum of (201, 301) and 101 is 603.

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The add_nums() function requires one argument: num. It can also take zero or more subsequent arguments,
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which will all be stored
en in a single tuple, nums.
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2. We use the built-in gta gs function
No jasum() to (see page 131) to get the sum of nums and add it to num.
un p NI
au nilka LK
tho n AN
3. The output is not perfect. riz Wet@will
redimprove
TE it later on.
ed
co iff. SHW
pie com AR
sa JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .
Using **kwargs
The **kwargs parameter is most commonly used when you need to pass an unknown number of keyword
arguments from one function to another. While this can be very useful (e.g., in decorators), it’s beyond the scope of
this lesson.
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Conclusiondocum
en
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In this lesson, you have learned about lists, tuples, ranges, dictionaries, and sets. You also learned about the
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*args and **kwargs tap
o u parameters. to Soon, you’ll learn to search these iterables for values and to loop through them
na nil NI
k L
u
performing operations on each a
tho element nt@ KAthey N contain one by one.
riz red TES
ed H
co if
pie f.com WAR
sa JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .
27. In versions prior to 3.7, an arbitrary item was removed.

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No agta gs to
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un pn NI
au il LK
tho kant
riz @ ANT
ed re ES
co diff.c HW
pie o AR
sa m JA
llo GT
we AP
d! .

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men
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