Python Dictionary clear()
The clear() method removes all items from the dictionary.
Syntax:
dict.clear()
Parameters:
The clear() method doesn't take any parameters.
Returns:
The clear() method doesn't return any value.
Examples:
Input : d = {1: "geeks", 2: "for"}
d.clear()
Output : d = {}
Error:
As we are not passing any parameters there is no chance for any error.
# Python program to demonstrate working of# dictionary clear()text = {1: "geeks", 2: "for"} text.clear()print('text =', text) |
Output:
text = {}
How is it different from assigning {} to a dictionary?
Please refer the below code to see the difference. When we assign {} to a dictionary, a new empty dictionary is created and assigned to the reference. But when we do clear on a dictionary reference, the actual dictionary content is removed, so all references referring to the dictionary become empty.
# Python code to demonstrate difference# clear and {}. text1 = {1: "geeks", 2: "for"}text2 = text1 # Using clear makes both text1 and text2# empty.text1.clear() print('After removing items using clear()')print('text1 =', text1)print('text2 =', text2) text1 = {1: "one", 2: "two"}text2 = text1 # This makes only text1 empty.text1 = {} print('After removing items by assigning {}')print('text1 =', text1)print('text2 =', text2) |
Output:
After removing items using clear()
text1 = {}
text2 = {}
After removing items by assigning {}
text1 = {}
text2 = {1: 'one', 2: 'two'}
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