Aprenda What are Dictionaries? | Additional Structures & File Handling

In Arrays, we access data through indexing (arrayName[index]). In an Array, every value (element) has a unique index, which is used for accessing that value, therefore we can say that an Array has an index-value structure.

There's a similar structure called a Dictionary, in which we have key-value pairs instead. While an index is always an integer number, a key can be of any basic data type, however it's commonly a string.

The following illustration shows an example illustration of dictionary which stores the number of different fruits:

1. Creating a Dictionary

We can declare a dictionary using the following syntax:

index.cs


              1
            
IDictionary<keyDataType, valueDataType> dictionaryName = new Dictionary<keyDataType, valueDataType>();

Here keyDataType represents the data type of the key while the valueDataType represents the data type of the values. dictionaryName is the name of the dictionary.

An implicit declaration is also valid:

index.cs


              1
            
var dictionaryName = new Dictionary<keyDataType, valueDataType>();

2. Adding Data

We can use the Add method to add items to the dictionary:

index.cs


              1
            
dictionaryName.Add(keyName, value);

3. Accessing Data

We can access the data in dictionaries using the keys:

index.cs


              1
            
dictionaryName[keyName]

Following is an example which demonstrates all three:

index.cs


              12345678910111213141516171819202122
            
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            
            var student = new Dictionary<string, string>();

            student.Add("name", "Noah");
            student.Add("country", "Netherlands");
            student.Add("subject", "Computer Science");

            Console.WriteLine(student["name"]);
            Console.WriteLine(student["country"]);
            Console.WriteLine(student["subject"]);
        }
    }
}

In Dictionaries, Count attribute shows the number of key-value pairs stored in it. Remove method takes in a key and removes that key-value pair from the dictionary. Clear method simply removes all key-value pairs from a dictionary. It will be a good code reading exercise to read and understand the usage of Count, Remove and Clear from the following code:

index.cs


              1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
            
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var numbers = new Dictionary<int, string>();

            numbers.Add(0, "Zero");
            numbers.Add(1, "One");
            numbers.Add(2, "Two");
            numbers.Add(3, "Three");
            numbers.Add(4, "Four");
            numbers.Add(5, "Five");

            Console.WriteLine(numbers.Count); // Output: 6
            numbers.Remove(3);
            Console.WriteLine(numbers.Count); // Output: 5
            numbers.Clear();
            Console.WriteLine(numbers.Count); // Output: 0
        }
    }
}

Tudo estava claro?

Obrigado pelo seu feedback!

Seção 1. Capítulo 4

Pergunte à IA

Pergunte o que quiser ou experimente uma das perguntas sugeridas para iniciar nosso bate-papo

Deslize para mostrar o menu

The following illustration shows an example illustration of dictionary which stores the number of different fruits:

1. Creating a Dictionary

We can declare a dictionary using the following syntax:

index.cs


              1
            
IDictionary<keyDataType, valueDataType> dictionaryName = new Dictionary<keyDataType, valueDataType>();

Here keyDataType represents the data type of the key while the valueDataType represents the data type of the values. dictionaryName is the name of the dictionary.

An implicit declaration is also valid:

index.cs


              1
            
var dictionaryName = new Dictionary<keyDataType, valueDataType>();

2. Adding Data

We can use the Add method to add items to the dictionary:

index.cs


              1
            
dictionaryName.Add(keyName, value);

3. Accessing Data

We can access the data in dictionaries using the keys:

index.cs


              1
            
dictionaryName[keyName]

Following is an example which demonstrates all three:

index.cs


              12345678910111213141516171819202122
            
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            
            var student = new Dictionary<string, string>();

            student.Add("name", "Noah");
            student.Add("country", "Netherlands");
            student.Add("subject", "Computer Science");

            Console.WriteLine(student["name"]);
            Console.WriteLine(student["country"]);
            Console.WriteLine(student["subject"]);
        }
    }
}

index.cs


              1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
            
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var numbers = new Dictionary<int, string>();

            numbers.Add(0, "Zero");
            numbers.Add(1, "One");
            numbers.Add(2, "Two");
            numbers.Add(3, "Three");
            numbers.Add(4, "Four");
            numbers.Add(5, "Five");

            Console.WriteLine(numbers.Count); // Output: 6
            numbers.Remove(3);
            Console.WriteLine(numbers.Count); // Output: 5
            numbers.Clear();
            Console.WriteLine(numbers.Count); // Output: 0
        }
    }
}

Tudo estava claro?

Obrigado pelo seu feedback!

Seção 1. Capítulo 4

What are Dictionaries?

1. Creating a Dictionary

2. Adding Data

3. Accessing Data

1. What module must be imported for using dictionaries?

2. What is the correct syntax for creating a dictionary?

3. What will be the output of the following code?

Awesome!

What are Dictionaries?

1. Creating a Dictionary

2. Adding Data

3. Accessing Data

1. What module must be imported for using dictionaries?

2. What is the correct syntax for creating a dictionary?

3. What will be the output of the following code?