Differences Between List, Tuple, Set and Dictionary in Python

Introduction

Having a hard time understanding what Lists, tuples, sets and dictionaries are in python? Everyone who works on python at least once has been confused about the differences between them or when to use them. Well, say no more, as we'll break down these Data structure collections' differences and understand them so that we may never forget them!

Let’s take a closer look at what each of these collections are :

Key Difference Between List, Tuple, Set, and Dictionary in Python

Mutability:

• List: Mutable (modifiable).
• Tuple: Immutable (non-modifiable).
• Set: Mutable, but elements inside must be immutable.
• Dictionary: Mutable; keys are immutable, but values can change.

Order:

• List: Maintains order of elements.
• Tuple: Maintains order of elements.
• Set: No guaranteed order.
• Dictionary: As of Python 3.7+, insertion order is preserved.

Uniqueness:

• List: Allows duplicates.
• Tuple: Allows duplicates.
• Set: Only unique elements.
• Dictionary: Unique keys, values can be duplicated.

Data Structure:

• List: Ordered collection.
• Tuple: Ordered collection.
• Set: Unordered collection.
• Dictionary: Collection of key-value pairs.

Difference Between List VS Tuple VS Set VS Dictionary in Python

Let us know more about Lists, Tuples, Sets and Dictionaries in following topics:

List

Lists are one of the most commonly used data structures provided by python; they are a collection of iterable, mutable and ordered data. They can contain duplicate data.

Certainly! Here are the code snippets extracted and organized with suitable subheadings for each data structure:

Syntax

Code:

Output:

Indexing

Code:

Output:

Adding New Element

Code:

Output:

Deleting Element

Code:

Output:

Sorting Elements

Code:

Output:

Searching Elements

Code:

Output:

Reversing Elements

Code:

Output:

Counting Elements

Code:

Output:

Tuple

Tuples are similar to lists. This collection also has iterable, ordered, and (can contain) repetitive data, just like lists. But unlike lists, tuples are immutable.

Syntax

Code:

Output:

Indexing

Code:

Output:

Set

Set is another data structure that holds a collection of unordered, iterable and mutable data. But it only contains unique elements.

Certainly! Here are the code snippets for the "Set" section of the table, including the Syntax and Searching Elements sections:

Syntax

Code:

Output:

Dictionary

Unlike all other collection types, dictionaries strictly contain key-value pairs.

• In Python versions < 3.7: is an unordered collection of data.
• In Python v3.1: a new type of dictionary called ‘OrderedDict’ was introduced, which was similar to dictionary in python; the difference was that orderedDict was ordered (as the name suggests)
• In the latest version of Python, i.e. 3.7: Finally, in python 3.7, dictionary is now an ordered collection of key-value pairs. The order is now guaranteed in the insertion order, i.e. the order in which they were inserted.

Syntax

Code:

Output:

Indexing

Code:

Output:

Adding New Element

Code:

Output:

Deleting Element

Code:

Output:

Sorting Elements

Code:

Output:

Searching Elements

Code:

Output:

If you’re questioning if both orderedDict and dict are ordered in python 3.7. Then why are there two implementations? Is there any difference?

We can leave that for when we talk about dictionaries in detail. But until then, we should know what dictionaries are, and their purpose, as that is something that will never change.

NOTE: An ordered collection is when the data structure retains the order in which the data was added, whereas such order is not retained by the data structure in an unordered collection.

• Sets, on one hand, are an unordered collection, whereas a dictionary (in python v3.6 and before) on the other may seem ordered, but it is not. It does retain the keys added to it, but at the same time, accessibility at a specific integer index is not possible; instead, accessibility via the key is possible.
• Each key is unique in a dictionary and acts as an index as you can access values using it. But the order in which keys are stored in a dictionary is not maintained, hence unordered. Whereas python 3.7’s Dictionary and ‘OrderedDict’ introduced in python 3.1 are ordered collections of key-value data as they maintain the insertion order.

Let’s dig deeper into the differences between these collections :

Key Differences Between Dictionary, List, Set, and Tuple

Syntax

• Dictionary: Uses curly brackets { } with key-value pairs separated by commas.
• List: Employs square brackets [ ] with comma-separated elements.
• Set: Utilizes curly brackets { } with comma-separated elements.
• Tuple: Employs parentheses ( ) with comma-separated elements.

Order

• Dictionary: Maintains order in Python 3.7+ but is unordered in Python 3.6.
• List: Maintains order.
• Set: Unordered.
• Tuple: Maintains order.

Duplicate Data

• Dictionary: Keys are unique, values can be duplicated.
• List: Allows duplicate elements.
• Set: Does not allow duplicate elements.
• Tuple: Allows duplicate elements.

Indexing

• Dictionary: Key-based indexing.
• List: Integer-based indexing starting from 0.
• Set: No index-based mechanism.
• Tuple: Integer-based indexing starting from 0.

Adding Elements

• Dictionary: Uses key-value pairs.
• List: New items can be added using append() method.
• Set: Uses add() method.
• Tuple: Being immutable, new data cannot be added.

Deleting Elements

• Dictionary: Uses pop(key) method to remove specified key and value.
• List: Uses pop() method to delete an element.
• Set: Uses pop() method to remove an element.
• Tuple: Being immutable, no data can be popped or deleted.

Sorting Elements

• Dictionary: Keys can be sorted using the sorted() method.
• List: Uses sort() method to sort elements.
• Set: Unordered, so sorting is not applicable.
• Tuple: Being immutable, data cannot be sorted.

Searching Elements

• Dictionary: Uses the get(key) method to retrieve value for a specified key.
• List: Uses index() method to search and return index of first occurrence.
• Set: Unordered, so searching is not applicable.
• Tuple: Uses index() method to search and return index of first occurrence.

Reversing Elements

• Dictionary: No integer-based indexing, so no reversal.
• List: Uses reverse() method to reverse elements.
• Set: Unordered, so reversing is not advised.
• Tuple: Being immutable, reverse method is not applicable.

Counting Elements

• Dictionary: count() not defined for dictionaries.
• List: Uses count() method to count occurrence of a specific element.
• Set: count() is not defined for sets.
• Tuple: Uses count() method to count occurrence of a specific element.