Python: can I have a list with named indices?

Question

In PHP I can name my array indices so that I may have something like:

$shows = Array(0 => Array(\'id\' => 1, \'name\' => \'Sesame Street\'), 
               


        

Answer 1

PHP arrays are actually maps, which is equivalent to dicts in Python.

Thus, this is the Python equivalent:

showlist = [{'id':1, 'name':'Sesaeme Street'}, {'id':2, 'name':'Dora the Explorer'}]

Sorting example:

from operator import attrgetter

showlist.sort(key=attrgetter('id'))

BUT! With the example you provided, a simpler datastructure would be better:

shows = {1: 'Sesaeme Street', 2:'Dora the Explorer'}

Answer 2

The pandas library has a really neat solution: Series.

book = pandas.Series( ['Introduction to python', 'Someone', 359, 10],
   index=['Title', 'Author', 'Number of pages', 'Price'])
print book['Author']

For more information check it's documentation: http://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/generated/pandas.Series.html.