How to clear a dictionary in Python

How to clear a dictionary in Python.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to clear a dictionary in Python:

Step 1: Create a dictionary

First, let's start by creating a dictionary to work with. You can create a dictionary by enclosing key-value pairs within curly braces {}.

my_dict = {'name': 'John', 'age': 25, 'city': 'New York'}

Step 2: Using the clear() method

To clear a dictionary in Python, you can use the clear() method. This method removes all the key-value pairs from the dictionary, effectively making it empty.

my_dict.clear()

Step 3: Verify the dictionary is cleared

You can verify that the dictionary is cleared by printing it after clearing. In this case, the output will be an empty dictionary.

print(my_dict)

Output:

{}

Step 4: Clearing a nested dictionary

If your dictionary contains nested dictionaries, you can use the clear() method to clear the nested dictionaries as well. Here's an example:

my_dict = {'name': 'John', 'age': 25, 'address': {'city': 'New York', 'country': 'USA'}}

my_dict['address'].clear()

print(my_dict)

Output:

{'name': 'John', 'age': 25, 'address': {}}

In the above example, the nested dictionary 'address' is cleared while keeping the other key-value pairs intact.

Step 5: Reassigning an empty dictionary

Instead of using the clear() method, you can also reassign an empty dictionary to clear it. Here's an example:

my_dict = {'name': 'John', 'age': 25}

my_dict = {}

print(my_dict)

Output:

{}

In this case, the dictionary is cleared by assigning an empty dictionary literal to the variable.

That's it! You now know how to clear a dictionary in Python using the clear() method or by reassigning an empty dictionary.