Issue #16206: Merge dict documentation improvements from 3.2.

Improve the documentation of the dict constructor.  This change includes
replacing the single-line signature documentation with a more complete
multiple-line signature.
This commit is contained in:
Chris Jerdonek 2012-10-13 03:25:18 -07:00
commit 39b867000b
2 changed files with 38 additions and 27 deletions

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@ -271,14 +271,17 @@ are always available. They are listed here in alphabetical order.
.. _func-dict:
.. function:: dict([arg])
.. function:: dict(**kwarg)
dict(mapping, **kwarg)
dict(iterable, **kwarg)
:noindex:
Create a new data dictionary, optionally with items taken from *arg*.
The dictionary type is described in :ref:`typesmapping`.
Create a new dictionary. The :class:`dict` object is the dictionary class.
See :class:`dict` and :ref:`typesmapping` for documentation about this
class.
For other containers see the built in :class:`list`, :class:`set`, and
:class:`tuple` classes, and the :mod:`collections` module.
For other containers see the built-in :class:`list`, :class:`set`, and
:class:`tuple` classes, as well as the :mod:`collections` module.
.. function:: dir([object])

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@ -2953,33 +2953,41 @@ Dictionaries can be created by placing a comma-separated list of ``key: value``
pairs within braces, for example: ``{'jack': 4098, 'sjoerd': 4127}`` or ``{4098:
'jack', 4127: 'sjoerd'}``, or by the :class:`dict` constructor.
.. class:: dict([arg])
.. class:: dict(**kwarg)
dict(mapping, **kwarg)
dict(iterable, **kwarg)
Return a new dictionary initialized from an optional positional argument or
from a set of keyword arguments. If no arguments are given, return a new
empty dictionary. If the positional argument *arg* is a mapping object,
return a dictionary mapping the same keys to the same values as does the
mapping object. Otherwise the positional argument must be a sequence, a
container that supports iteration, or an iterator object. The elements of
the argument must each also be of one of those kinds, and each must in turn
contain exactly two objects. The first is used as a key in the new
dictionary, and the second as the key's value. If a given key is seen more
than once, the last value associated with it is retained in the new
Return a new dictionary initialized from an optional positional argument
and a possibly empty set of keyword arguments.
If no positional argument is given, an empty dictionary is created.
If a positional argument is given and it is a mapping object, a dictionary
is created with the same key-value pairs as the mapping object. Otherwise,
the positional argument must be an :term:`iterator` object. Each item in
the iterable must itself be an iterator with exactly two objects. The
first object of each item becomes a key in the new dictionary, and the
second object the corresponding value. If a key occurs more than once, the
last value for that key becomes the corresponding value in the new
dictionary.
If keyword arguments are given, the keywords themselves with their associated
values are added as items to the dictionary. If a key is specified both in
the positional argument and as a keyword argument, the value associated with
the keyword is retained in the dictionary. For example, these all return a
dictionary equal to ``{"one": 1, "two": 2}``:
If keyword arguments are given, the keyword arguments and their values are
added to the dictionary created from the positional argument. If a key
being added is already present, the value from the keyword argument
replaces the value from the positional argument.
* ``dict(one=1, two=2)``
* ``dict({'one': 1, 'two': 2})``
* ``dict(zip(('one', 'two'), (1, 2)))``
* ``dict([['two', 2], ['one', 1]])``
To illustrate, the following examples all return a dictionary equal to
``{"one": 1, "two": 2}``::
The first example only works for keys that are valid Python identifiers; the
others work with any valid keys.
>>> a = dict(one=1, two=2)
>>> b = dict({'one': 1, 'two': 2})
>>> c = dict(zip(('one', 'two'), (1, 2)))
>>> d = dict([['two', 2], ['one', 1]])
>>> e = {"one": 1, "two": 2}
>>> a == b == c == d == e
True
Providing keyword arguments as in the first example only works for keys that
are valid Python identifiers. Otherwise, any valid keys can be used.
These are the operations that dictionaries support (and therefore, custom