Python dictionary, keep keys/values in same order as declared

Question

Hi, new to Python and had a question about dictionaries. I have a dictionary that I declared in a particular order and want to keep it in that order all the time. The keys/values can't really be kept in order based on their value, I just want it in the order that I declared it.

So if I have the dictionary:

d = {'ac':33, 'gw':20, 'ap':102, 'za':321, 'bs':10}

It isn't in that order if I view it or iterate through it, is there any way to make sure Python will keep the explicit order that I declared the keys/values in?

Using Python 2.6

Answer 1

You need an ordered dictionary, you can find an example of one here

Answer 2

Dictionaries will use an order that makes searching efficient, and you cant change that,

You could just use a list of objects (a 2 element tuple in a simple case, or even a class), and append items to the end. You can then use linear search to find items in it.

Alternatively you could create or use a different data structure created with the intention of maintaining order.

Answer 3

Generally, you can design a class that behaves like a dictionary, mainly be implementing the methods __contains__, __getitem__, __delitem__, __setitem__ and some more. That class can have any behaviour you like, for example prividing a sorted iterator over the keys ...