Processing Input with Lists and Dictionaries in Python

Why I studied this

I wanted to learn how to collect user input, store it in lists or dictionaries, and use it to calculate things like averages or wages.
This is a basic skill needed for any program that works with data.

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What I did

Gender and Salary: Calculating Averages

employeeList = []

for i in range(10):
    employee = {}
    employee["gender"] = input("gender: ")
    employee["salary"] = int(input("salary: "))
    employeeList.append(employee)

male_total = 0
female_total = 0
male_sum = 0
female_sum = 0

for employee in employeeList:
    if employee["gender"] == "m":
        male_total += 1
        male_sum += employee["salary"]
    else:
        female_total += 1
        female_sum += employee["salary"]

if male_total > 0:
    print("Male average:", male_sum / male_total)
if female_total > 0:
    print("Female average:", female_sum / female_total)

I stored each employee’s gender and salary using a dictionary inside a list, and then calculated the average for each gender.

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Student Grades: Total, Average, and Letter Grade

studentList = []

for i in range(3):
    student = {}
    student["name"] = input("name?: ")
    student["kor"] = int(input("Korean?: "))
    student["eng"] = int(input("English?: "))
    student["mat"] = int(input("Maths?: "))
    studentList.append(student)

for student in studentList:
    student["total"] = student["kor"] + student["eng"] + student["mat"]
    student["avg"] = student["total"] // 3

for student in studentList:
    if student["avg"] > 90:
        student["grade"] = "수"
    elif student["avg"] > 80:
        student["grade"] = "우"
    else:
        student["grade"] = "미"

I used a dictionary for each student to store their scores and calculate total, average, and grade.

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Weekly Wages: List vs Dictionary

Using dictionaries

personList = []

for i in range(2):
    worker = {}
    worker["name"] = input("Name: ")
    worker["work_time"] = int(input("Hours: "))
    worker["per_pay"] = int(input("Wage: "))
    personList.append(worker)

for worker in personList:
    worker["pay"] = worker["work_time"] * worker["per_pay"]
    print(worker)

Each worker’s data is stored in one dictionary inside a list. It’s clean and easy to use.

Using parallel lists

name_list = []
time_list = []
wage_list = []

for i in range(5):
    name = input("name?: ")
    name_list.append(name)

for name in name_list:
    time = int(input("time?: "))
    time_list.append(time)

for name in name_list:
    wage = int(input("wage?: "))
    wage_list.append(wage)

for i in range(5):
    print(name_list[i], time_list[i], wage_list[i], time_list[i] * wage_list[i])

This works, but it’s harder to track and link the data. Using dictionaries makes the structure clearer.

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What I learned

• Lists can store multiple items, and when combined with dictionaries, they can store structured data.
• Dictionaries are better when data has labels like name, score, or gender.
• Input-processing is easier and clearer with dictionary-based structures.

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What I want to do next

I want to try reading data from a file, and practice combining list/dict with conditionals and loops to make small apps.