Python Array with String Indices
PythonArraysListDictionaryPython Problem Overview
Is it possible to use strings as indices in an array in python?
For example:
myArray = []
myArray["john"] = "johns value"
myArray["jeff"] = "jeffs value"
print myArray["john"]
Python Solutions
Solution 1 - Python
What you want is called an associative array. In python these are called dictionaries.
> Dictionaries are sometimes found in other languages as “associative memories” or “associative arrays”. Unlike sequences, which are indexed by a range of numbers, dictionaries are indexed by keys, which can be any immutable type; strings and numbers can always be keys.
myDict = {}
myDict["john"] = "johns value"
myDict["jeff"] = "jeffs value"
Alternative way to create the above dict:
myDict = {"john": "johns value", "jeff": "jeffs value"}
Accessing values:
print(myDict["jeff"]) # => "jeffs value"
Getting the keys (in Python v2):
print(myDict.keys()) # => ["john", "jeff"]
In Python 3, you'll get a dict_keys
, which is a view and a bit more efficient (see views docs and PEP 3106 for details).
print(myDict.keys()) # => dict_keys(['john', 'jeff'])
If you want to learn about python dictionary internals, I recommend this ~25 min video presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Kc8xzcA68. It's called the "The Mighty Dictionary".
Solution 2 - Python
Even better, try an OrderedDict (assuming you want something like a list). Closer to a list than a regular dict since the keys have an order just like list elements have an order. With a regular dict, the keys have an arbitrary order.
Note that this is available in Python 3 and 2.7. If you want to use with an earlier version of Python you can find installable modules to do that.