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Python Python Collections (Retired) Dictionaries String Formatting with Dictionaries

Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points
Posted by Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points

Help!! list indices must be integers or slices, not dict

it says: list indices must be integers or slices, not dict

strings.py 
dicts = [
    {'name': 'Michelangelo',
     'food': 'PIZZA'},
    {'name': 'Garfield',
     'food': 'lasanga'},
    {'name': 'Walter',
     'food': 'pancakes'},
    {'name': 'Galactus',
     'food': 'worlds'}
]

string = "Hi, I'm {name} and I love to eat {food}!"

def string_factory(dicts,string):
  list_thing = []
  for item in dicts:
    temp_dict = dicts[item]
    list_thing[item] = string.format(**temp_dict)
  return list_thing
Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

What do you mean?

Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points
Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points

ah sorry, what I meant was: i see how using .append works for making the list, but why does it not work when I iterate over item in the for loop when creating list_thing (I hope this is clear)

Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points
Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points

ah sorry, what I meant was: i see how using .append works for making the list, but why does it not work when I iterate over item in the for loop when creating list_thing (I hope this is clear)

Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

Ohhhhh you COULD do this but I prefer my way:

def string_factory(dicts, string):
  list_thing = []
  for item in dicts:
    formatted_string = string.format(**item)
    list_thing.append(formatted_string)
  return list_thing
Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points
Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points

Ok, I think I understand. Thank you for your help :)

1 Answer

Alexander Davison
Alexander Davison
65,469 Points

You are doing a great job, keep it up! However, you are overthinking. There is no need for "temp_dict". Also, instead of 

list_thing[item] = 'Something here'

You should just use append like this:

list_thing.append('Something here')

The complete code is:

dicts = [
    {'name': 'Michelangelo',
     'food': 'PIZZA'},
    {'name': 'Garfield',
     'food': 'lasanga'},
    {'name': 'Walter',
     'food': 'pancakes'},
    {'name': 'Galactus',
     'food': 'worlds'}
]

string = "Hi, I'm {name} and I love to eat {food}!"

def string_factory(dicts, string):
  list_thing = []
  for item in dicts:
    list_thing.append(string.format(**item))
  return list_thing

Hope that helps! ~xela888

Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points
Maximilian Richly
Maximilian Richly
4,872 Points

Thank you. I understand the answer now. But why does .format() not work?