With CPython 2.7, using dict() to create dictionaries takes up to 6 times longer and involves more memory allocation operations than the literal syntax. Use {} to create dictionaries, especially if you are pre-populating them, unless the literal syntax does not work for your case.
An alternative to using triple quotes ( ''' ) to create a multiline string is to enclose the entire string in brackets ( () ) and split our string using the enter button. This will automatically indent each line correctly as everything within the brackets is be considered one block of code.
Python dict() Function The dict() function creates a dictionary. A dictionary is a collection which is unordered, changeable and indexed.
I use #3. Same for long lists, tuples, etc. It doesn't require adding any extra spaces beyond the indentations. As always, be consistent.
mydict = {
"key1": 1,
"key2": 2,
"key3": 3,
}
mylist = [
(1, 'hello'),
(2, 'world'),
]
nested = {
a: [
(1, 'a'),
(2, 'b'),
],
b: [
(3, 'c'),
(4, 'd'),
],
}
Similarly, here's my preferred way of including large strings without introducing any whitespace (like you'd get if you used triple-quoted multi-line strings):
data = (
"iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAABG"
"l0RVh0U29mdHdhcmUAQWRvYmUgSW1hZ2VSZWFkeXHJZTwAAAEN"
"xBRpFYmctaKCfwrBSCrRLuL3iEW6+EEUG8XvIVjYWNgJdhFjIX"
"rz6pKtPB5e5rmq7tmxk+hqO34e1or0yXTGrj9sXGs1Ib73efh1"
"AAAABJRU5ErkJggg=="
)
First of all, like Steven Rumbalski said, "PEP8 doesn't address this question", so it is a matter of personal preference.
I would use a similar but not identical format as your format 3. Here is mine, and why.
my_dictionary = { # Don't think dict(...) notation has more readability
"key1": 1, # Indent by one press of TAB (i.e. 4 spaces)
"key2": 2, # Same indentation scale as above
"key3": 3, # Keep this final comma, so that future addition won't show up as 2-lines change in code diff
} # My favorite: SAME indentation AS ABOVE, to emphasize this bracket is still part of the above code block!
the_next_line_of_code() # Otherwise the previous line would look like the begin of this part of code
bad_example = {
"foo": "bar", # Don't do this. Unnecessary indentation wastes screen space
"hello": "world" # Don't do this. Omitting the comma is not good.
} # You see? This line visually "joins" the next line when in a glance
the_next_line_of_code()
btw_this_is_a_function_with_long_name_or_with_lots_of_parameters(
foo='hello world', # So I put one parameter per line
bar=123, # And yeah, this extra comma here is harmless too;
# I bet not many people knew/tried this.
# Oh did I just show you how to write
# multiple-line inline comment here?
# Basically, same indentation forms a natural paragraph.
) # Indentation here. Same idea as the long dict case.
the_next_line_of_code()
# By the way, now you see how I prefer inline comment to document the very line.
# I think this inline style is more compact.
# Otherwise you will need extra blank line to split the comment and its code from others.
some_normal_code()
# hi this function is blah blah
some_code_need_extra_explanation()
some_normal_code()
Since your keys are strings and since we are talking about readability, I prefer :
mydict = dict(
key1 = 1,
key2 = 2,
key3 = 3
)
Usually, if you have big python objects it's quite hard to format them. I personally prefer using some tools for that.
Here is python-beautifier - www.cleancss.com/python-beautify that instantly turns your data into customizable style.
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