Override the {…} notation so i get an OrderedDict() instead of a dict()?

Question

Update: dicts retaining insertion order is guaranteed for Python 3.7+

I want to use a .py file like a config file. So using the {.

Answer 1

Here's a hack that almost gives you the syntax you want:

class _OrderedDictMaker(object):
    def __getitem__(self, keys):
        if not isinstance(keys, tuple):
            keys = (keys,)
        assert all(isinstance(key, slice) for key in keys)

        return OrderedDict([(k.start, k.stop) for k in keys])

ordereddict = _OrderedDictMaker()

from nastyhacks import ordereddict

menu = ordereddict[
   "about" : "about",
   "login" : "login",
   'signup': "signup"
]

Edit: Someone else discovered this independently, and has published the odictliteral package on PyPI that provides a slightly more thorough implementation - use that package instead