Python - How do I use user input as an array name?

Question

I'm making a game where someone can select a square via notation and then perform an action on that square. Think chess, ie perform action on a2 or a3.

I need a2, for example, to be an array. How can I take a user's input and make it the name of the array?

I can basically make it work with:

if user_input == "a2":
  a2 = ["value 1"]
elif user_input == "a3":
  a3 = ["value 1"]

etc.

I'm thinking there has to be a better way. That's a lot of overhead and not easily scalable.

-mS

Answer 1

Use a dictionary:

h = {}
if user_input == "a2":
  h["a2"] = ["value 1"]
elif user_input == "a3":
  h["a3"] = ["value 1"]

Now, the good thing is that you can factorize your code:

h = {}
h[user_input] = ["value 1"]

Answer 2

Using a dict , you'll be able to set keys at runtime:

board = dict()
square = user_input
board[square] = ["value 1"]

This will free you of the need to handle all squares one by one in the code, which is I think your question was about.