advanced patterns When Updating Dictionary Values in Python 3.10 with Nested Lists
I'm following best practices but I'm trying to figure out I'm relatively new to this, so bear with me..... This might be a silly question, but I'm working with an scenario when trying to update values in a dictionary that contains nested lists. The dictionary is structured as follows: ```python my_dict = { 'a': [1, 2, 3], 'b': [4, 5, 6] } ``` I want to update the first element of the list associated with the key 'a' to 10. However, I'm noticing that the list is not updating as expected. Here’s the code I’ve written: ```python my_dict['a'][0] = 10 print(my_dict) ``` When I run this, I get the output: ``` {'a': [1, 2, 3], 'b': [4, 5, 6]} ``` It seems that the update is not being applied. I've also tried using the `append` method to add an element instead: ```python my_dict['a'].append(10) print(my_dict) ``` This correctly adds the number 10 to the list, but it does not solve the initial scenario. I have confirmed that I am not accidentally creating a new list elsewhere in the code. I’ve also checked that the dictionary is not being overwritten or reassigned anywhere. Is there something I'm missing here? Could it be an scenario with how Python handles mutable types like lists within dictionaries? Any insights into why the update to the list isn't reflecting as expected would be greatly appreciated. I'm using Python 3.10.5, and I've tried running this in a clean environment to rule out any external factors. Thanks for your help! This is part of a larger CLI tool I'm building. How would you solve this? For context: I'm using Python on Windows. Am I missing something obvious? For reference, this is a production application. Any feedback is welcome!