Python's get() Method

Python's get() method is a reliable tool when working with dictionaries. When you call it, it effectively handles the task of locating a key within the dictionary, providing you direct access to its corresponding value. Here's how you would typically use this useful function:

dictionary.get(key, default_value)

It accepts two parameters:

• The key you're interested in, the one which value you need.
• An optional default value that comes into play if the key isn't found in the dictionary. If you don't provide a default value, the get() method, by default, returns 'None' when it can't locate the key.

Fundamentally, the get() method returns the value associated with the given key.

A valuable trait of the get() method is its error-free nature. If it doesn't locate the key, it calmly returns the default value instead of causing an error, which could occur if you attempted direct access via dictionary[key].

To illustrate, let's set up a practical example.

We have a dictionary with two keys.

dictionary = {'name': 'Tom', 'age': 30}

We use get() to fetch the value of 'name'.

print(dictionary.get('name'))

Python scans the dictionary, finds the key 'name', and returns its value - 'Tom'.

Tom

Next, we try to access 'address' using the get() method.

print(dictionary.get('address'))

This time, Python can't find the key 'address' in the dictionary, so it returns 'None'.

None

However, we can modify this behavior by defining a default response for when a key isn't found.

Specify your desired return value as the second parameter in the get() function.

print(dictionary.get('address', 'Not available'))

In this situation, since 'address' isn't in the dictionary, the method returns 'Not available'.

Not available