Python Dictionary pop()

The syntax of pop() is:

dictionary.pop(key, default)

pop() Parameters

The pop() method takes two parameters as arguments.

• key - name of the key that is to be removed.
• default (Optional) - A value that returns when a given key does not exist.

Let’s see some examples of the pop() method in the python dictionary.

Example 1: How to use the pop() method on dictionaries?

cars = { 1 : "BMW", 2 : "TOYOTA", 3 : "TATA"}

print("The popped item is :", cars.pop(2))

print("The new Dictionary is :",cars)

Output :

The popped item is : TOYOTA
The new Dictionary is : {1: 'BMW', 3: 'TATA'}

when we try to remove an item which is not present in the dictionary it will return an KeyError exception.

Example 2: Removing items that are not present in the dictionary?

cars = {"BMW" : 1,"TOYOTA" : 2,"TATA" : 3}

print("The popped item is :", cars.pop("AUDI"))

print("The new Dictionary is :",cars)

Output

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "", line 3, in <module>
    print("The popped item is :", cars.pop("AUDI"))
KeyError: 'AUDI'

Rules of pop()

• If key is found - removed/popped element from the dictionary
• If key is not found - value specified as the second argument (default)
• If key is not found and default argument is not specified - KeyError exception is raised