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From: John Gordon <gordon@panix.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Subject: Re: Ordering in the printout of a dictionary
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 02:56:21 +0000 (UTC)
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In <mailman.8231.1395103693.18130.python-list@python.org> Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> writes:

> > Is there a way to force a certain ordering of the printout or else
> > somehow manage to get at least a certain stable ordering of the
> > printout (i.e. input and output are identical)?

> Yes; instead of simply printing it out (which calls repr()),
> explicitly iterate over it, like this:

> def display(d):
>     return '{'+','.join('%r: %r'%(key,d[key]) for key in sorted(d))+'}'

You could also use the OrderedDict type, which is subclass of dict that
preserves insertion order.

-- 
John Gordon         Imagine what it must be like for a real medical doctor to
gordon@panix.com    watch 'House', or a real serial killer to watch 'Dexter'.