Creation of dictionaries in GlowScript 2.6

[Adam Hausknecht]

Hi,

It seems that syntax for creating of a dictionary has changed in GlowScript 2.6!

I found that the statements

   D = {a: 1, b: 2}

   alert(D.a)

causes an "a" not defined error but

   D= {}

   D.a = 1

   D.b = 2

is ok! Is this only way to create a dictionary in GlowScript 2.6  or  is there another way using a list or lists of key and value pairs?

Thanks in advance,

Adam Hausknecht

Department of Mathematics

UMass Dartmouth

   

[Bruce Sherwood]

The preferred way to deal with dictionaries is to follow Python syntax, which is this:

D = {}

D['a'] = 1

D['b'] = 2

print(D['a'], D['b'])

or you can say

D = {'a':1, 'b':2}

print(D['a'], D['b'])

This code will work in standard Python as well as in GlowScript VPython. The only reason that D.a = 1 works is kind of an accident. That is a JavaScript construct, and it fails in standard Python. RapydScript-NG is a rather thin wrapper around JavaScript, so that occasionally something illegal in Python works in GlowScript VPython. Roughly speaking, a JavaScript dictionary (called an "object literal") is indistinguishable from an instance of a JavaScript class, whereas in standard Python these two things are different.

Bruce

[Adam Hausknecht]

 Bruce,

   OK! Thanks!

Adam