While I figured there must be a point to dictionaries, at first they came across as lists with {} and not particularly useful. Because of the name, they sounded like lists that you just put in a module as a bunch of variables you don’t plan on changing. Watching the coding, the syntax was tripping me up a bit, but I think it would be something I’d be able to use once doing it a few times.

The Harry Potter analogy made it things click abruptly, like magic!(sorry!). It reminded me of it’s use in databases for indexing and how data gets retrieved from a disc. The contrast between looping through a file versus using an index worked for me because I’ve taken a couple DB classes and have had some experience trying to use SQL on a library catalog at work. I think when the contrasts were covered, I knew what was going on and could appreciate the point of it.

After the weekend’s homework I’m hoping the actual use of dictionaries won’t be too daunting.