Using Python Dictionaries as a Potential Alternative to IF Conditions

A lesser-known usage of dictionaries in Python.

Dictionaries are mainly used as a data structure in Python for maintaining key-value pairs.

But unknown to many, there’s another special use case of dictionaries — using them as a potential alternative to IF conditions.

For instance, consider the code snippet below. Here, corresponding to an input value, we invoke a specific function.

• The traditional way requires you to hard-code every case (𝐢𝐟_𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞.𝐩𝐲).

• But with a dictionary (𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭.𝐩𝐲), you can directly retrieve the corresponding function by providing it with the key.

Isn’t that cool, elegant, and neat?

👉 Over to you: What other lesser-known Python hacks are you aware of?

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