How can I add new keys to a dictionary?

Question

Is it possible to add a key to a Python dictionary after it has been created?

It doesn\'t seem to have an .add() method.

Answer 1

If you're not joining two dictionaries, but adding new key-value pairs to a dictionary, then using the subscript notation seems like the best way.

import timeit

timeit.timeit('dictionary = {"karga": 1, "darga": 2}; dictionary.update({"aaa": 123123, "asd": 233})')
>> 0.49582505226135254

timeit.timeit('dictionary = {"karga": 1, "darga": 2}; dictionary["aaa"] = 123123; dictionary["asd"] = 233;')
>> 0.20782899856567383

However, if you'd like to add, for example, thousands of new key-value pairs, you should consider using the update() method.