Python convert dict to double quotes

Question

HowTo
Python How-To's
Convert Dictionary to String in Python

Created: August-04, 2021 | Updated: October-18, 2021

Table of Contents Show

Use the json Module to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python
Use the str() and the literal_eval() Function From the ast Library to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python
Use pickle Module to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python
Related Article - Python String
Related Article - Python Dictionary
Problem Formulation
Method 1: eval()
Method 2: ast.literal_eval()
Method 3: json.loads() & s.replace()
Method 4: Iterative Approach
Where to Go From Here?
How do you print a double quote in a dictionary in Python?
How do you add double quotes to a JSON string in Python?
How do you get a dictionary value without brackets?
How do you get rid of double quotes in Python?

Use the json Module to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python
Use the str() and the literal_eval() Function From the ast Library to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python
Use pickle Module to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python

A dictionary in Python is an ordered collection of data values stored in a key: value pair. It can be created by placing elements within curly braces and separating them by a comma. A string in Python is a sequence of Unicode characters. It can be created by enclosing characters in single quotes or double-quotes.

In this tutorial, we will discuss how to convert a dictionary to a string and back in Python.

Use the json Module to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python

json is an acronym for JavaScript Object Notation. This module produces the output in plain text only. It also supports cross-platform and cross-version.

For example,

import json
dict = {'Hello': 60}
s = json.dumps(dict)
print(s)
d = json.loads(s)
print(d)

Output:

{"Hello": 60}
{'Hello': 60}

The function json.dumps() extracts data from the json object passed as a parameter and returns it in the form of a string. The function json.loads() takes in a string as a parameter and returns a json object.

Use the str() and the literal_eval() Function From the ast Library to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python

This method can be used if the dictionary’s length is not too big. The str() method of Python is used to convert a dictionary to its string representation. The literal_eval() from ast library is used to convert a string to a dictionary in Python.

For example,

import ast
dict = {'Hello': 60}
str(dict)
ast.literal_eval(str(dict))

Output:

"{'Hello': 60}"
{'Hello': 60}

Use pickle Module to Convert a Dictionary to a String and Back in Python

The dumps() function from the pickle module is used to convert a dictionary into a byte stream in Python. The loads() function does the opposite i.e. it is used to convert the byte stream back into a dictionary in Python.

For example,

import pickle
dict = {'Hello': 60, 'World': 100}
s = pickle.dumps(dict)
print(s)
d = pickle.loads(s)
print(d)

Output:

b'\x80\x04\x95\x19\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00}\x94(\x8c\x05Hello\x94K<\x8c\x05World\x94Kdu.'
{'Hello': 60, 'World': 100}

Remove Commas From String in Python

Check a String Is Empty in a Pythonic Way

Convert a String to Variable Name in Python

Remove Whitespace From a String in Python

Remove Commas From String in Python

Check a String Is Empty in a Pythonic Way

Convert a String to Variable Name in Python

Remove Whitespace From a String in Python

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Problem Formulation
Method 1: eval()
Method 2: ast.literal_eval()
Method 3: json.loads() & s.replace()
Method 4: Iterative Approach
Where to Go From Here?

Problem Formulation

Given a string representation of a dictionary. How to convert it to a dictionary?

Input:
'{"1": "hi", "2": "alice", "3": "python"}'

Output: 
{'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}

Method 1: eval()

The built-in eval() function takes a string argument, parses it as if it was a code expression, and evaluates the expression. If the string contains a textual representation of a dictionary, the return value is a normal Python dictionary. This way, you can easily convert a string to a Python dictionary by means of the eval() function.

s = '{"1": "hi", "2": "alice", "3": "python"}'

d = eval(s)

print(d)
print(type(d))

The output is:

{'1': 'hi', '2': 'alice', '3': 'python'}
<class 'dict'>

You can learn more about the built-in eval() function in the following video:

Python eval() – How to Dynamically Evaluate a Code Expression in Python

Method 2: ast.literal_eval()

The ast.literal_eval() method safely evaluates an expression or a string literal such as a dictionary represented by a string. It is also suitable for strings that potentially come from untrusted sources resolving many of the security concerns of the eval() method. This way, you can convert a string representation s of a dictionary by using the expression ast.literal_eval(s).

import ast

s = '{"1": "hi", "2": "alice", "3": "python"}'
d = ast.literal_eval(s)

print(d)
print(type(d))

The output is:

{'1': 'hi', '2': 'alice', '3': 'python'}
<class 'dict'>

Method 3: json.loads() & s.replace()

To convert a string representation of a dict to a dict, use the json.loads() method on the string. First, replace all single quote characters with escaped double-quote characters using the expression s.replace("'", """) to make it work with the JSON library in Python. The expression json.loads(s.replace("'", """)) converts string s to a dictionary.

import json

s = '{"1": "hi", "2": "alice", "3": "python"}'

d = json.loads(s.replace("'", """))

print(d)
print(type(d))

The output is:

{'1': 'hi', '2': 'alice', '3': 'python'}
<class 'dict'>

Unfortunately, this method is not optimal because it’ll fail for dictionary representations with trailing commas and single quotes as parts of dictionary keys or values. It’s also not the most simple one, so the general approach discussed in method 1 is preferred.

You can dive deeper into the string.replace() method in the following video tutorial:

Python String Replace | A Helpful Guide

Method 4: Iterative Approach

You can also convert a string to a dictionary by splitting the string representation into a sequence of (key, value) pairs. Then, you can add each (key, value) pair to an initially empty dictionary after some housekeeping.

Here’s an implementation in bare Python:

s = '{"1": "hi", "2": "alice", "3": "python"}'

def string_to_dict(s):
    new_dict = {}

    # Determine key, value pairs
    mappings = s.replace('{', '').replace('}', '').split(',')
    
    for x in mappings:
        key, value = x.split(':')

        # Automatically convert (key, value) pairs to correct type
        key, value = eval(key), eval(value)

        # Store (key, value) pair
        new_dict[key] = value
        
    return new_dict


d = string_to_dict(s)

print(d)
print(type(d))

The output is:

{'1': 'hi', '2': 'alice', '3': 'python'}
<class 'dict'>

You can learn more about string splitting in the following video tutorial:

Python String Methods [Ultimate Guide]

Where to Go From Here?

Enough theory. Let’s get some practice!

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How do you print a double quote in a dictionary in Python?

dumps() method to convert a dictionary to a string with double quotes, e.g. json_str = json. dumps(my_dict) . The json. dumps() method converts a Python object to a JSON formatted string with the dictionary's keys and string values wrapped in double quotes.

How do you add double quotes to a JSON string in Python?

Alternate between single and double quotes. For example, to add double quotes to a string, wrap the string in single quotes. To add single quotes to a string, wrap the string in double quotes.

How do you get a dictionary value without brackets?

If you need to print the dictionary without any other value, e.g. without the square brackets of a list, use the str..

Format the items of the dictionary into strings..

Use the str. join() method to join the strings into a single string..

Use the print() function to print the string..

How do you get rid of double quotes in Python?

replace() to remove all quotes from a string. Call str. replace(old, new) on a string with the quote character '"' as old and an empty string "" as new to remove all quotes from the string.

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