Python: Split a given dictionary of lists into list of dictionaries

Last update on June 28 2025 12:39:41 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

47. Split Dictionary of Lists into List of Dictionaries

Write a Python program to split a given dictionary of lists into lists of dictionaries.

Visual Presentation:

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

# Define a function 'list_of_dicts' that splits a dictionary of lists into a list of dictionaries.
def list_of_dicts(marks):
    # Get the keys (subjects) from the 'marks' dictionary.
    keys = marks.keys()
    	
    # Use the 'zip' function to transpose the lists of marks into tuples.
    vals = zip(*[marks[k] for k in keys])
    
    # Create a list of dictionaries by zipping the keys and the transposed tuples.
    result = [dict(zip(keys, v)) for v in vals]
    return result

# Create a dictionary 'marks' with subjects as keys and lists of marks as values.
marks = {'Science': [88, 89, 62, 95], 'Language': [77, 78, 84, 80]}

# Print a message indicating the start of the code section and the original dictionary of lists.
print("Original dictionary of lists:")
print(marks)

# Print a message indicating the intention to split the dictionary of lists into a list of dictionaries.
print("\nSplit said dictionary of lists into a list of dictionaries:")

# Call the 'list_of_dicts' function to split the dictionary of lists and print the resulting list of dictionaries.
print(list_of_dicts(marks)) 

Sample Output:

Original dictionary of lists:
{'Science': [88, 89, 62, 95], 'Language': [77, 78, 84, 80]}

Split said dictionary of lists into list of dictionaries:
[{'Science': 88, 'Language': 77}, {'Science': 89, 'Language': 78}, {'Science': 62, 'Language': 84}, {'Science': 95, 'Language': 80}]

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a Python program to convert a dictionary of lists into a list of dictionaries by zipping the list values.
• Write a Python function that takes a dictionary with list values and returns a list of dictionaries for each index.
• Write a Python program to use list comprehension and zip() to transform a dictionary of lists into multiple dictionaries.
• Write a Python program to implement a function that decomposes a dictionary of lists into a list of single-key dictionaries.

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