Python Dictionary items() method (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 11 Jul, 2025

items() method in Python returns a view object that contains all the key-value pairs in a dictionary as tuples. This view object updates dynamically if the dictionary is modified.

**Example:

Python `

d = {'A': 'Python', 'B': 'Java', 'C': 'C++'}

using items() to get all key-value pairs

items = d.items()

print(items)

`

Output

dict_items([('A', 'Python'), ('B', 'Java'), ('C', 'C++')])

**Explanation: items() method returns a dict_items view object containing all key-value pairs in the form of tuples.

**Note : items() method is only available for dictionary objects. If called on a non-dictionary object, it will raise an AttributeError.

items() syntax

dict.items()

Here, **dict is the dictionary from which the key-value pairs are retrieved.

**Parameters:

• items() method does not take any parameters.

**Return value:

• This method returns a dict_items **view object, which behaves like a list of (key, value) tuples. If the dictionary is updated, the view object automatically reflects these changes.

Examples of items()

**Example 1: Iterating over key-value pairs

Python `

d = {'A': 'Python', 'B': 'Java', 'C': 'C++'}

using items() to iterate over dictionary

for key, value in d.items(): print(f"Key: {key}, Value: {value}")

`

Output

Key: A, Value: Python Key: B, Value: Java Key: C, Value: C++

**Explanation: items() method allows easy unpacking of key-value pairs using tuple unpacking inside a loop.

**Example 2: Dynamic nature of items()

Python `

d = {'A': 'Python', 'B': 'Java'}

getting items

items = d.items()

adding a new key-value pair

d['C'] = 'C++'

print(items)

`

Output

dict_items([('A', 'Python'), ('B', 'Java'), ('C', 'C++')])

**Explanation: When a new key-value pair is added to the dictionary, the **items() view object updates automatically to include the new pair.

**Example 3: Converting items() to a list

Python `

d = {'A': 'Python', 'B': 'Java', 'C': 'C++'}

converting items to a list

items_list = list(d.items())

print(items_list)

`

Output

[('A', 'Python'), ('B', 'Java'), ('C', 'C++')]

**Explanation: We convert the dict_items object into a list of tuples, allowing for indexing, sorting or other list operations.