Python How to access by keys when iterating a dictionary returns tuple

Question

Iterating over a dictionary returns a tuple. Then how can the elements be accessed with key if the iteration retunes a tuple? I am expecting the iteration to give the nested dictionary so I can traverse further and access items with keys. With tuple returned I can't.

>>> d = { 'f': { 'f1': { 'f11':''}, }, 's': {  }}
>>> d
{'f': {'f1': {'f11': ''}}, 's': {}}
>>> for p in d.items():
...                 print(type(p))
...                 print(p['f1'])
...
<class 'tuple'>
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 3, in <module>
TypeError: tuple indices must be integers or slices, not str

Answer 1

It is probably easiest if you unpack the tuple in the for loop:

for key, val in d.items():
    print(key, val)

Answer 2

Here's a worked-out example of how to unpack the tuple and how to make recursive calls:

>>> def list_recursive(d):
        for key, value in d.items():
            print('Key:', key)
            print('Value:', value)
            print()
            if isinstance(value, dict):
                list_recursive(value)

>>> d = { 'f': { 'f1': { 'f11':''}, }, 's': {  }}
>>> list_recursive(d)
Key: f
Value: {'f1': {'f11': ''}}

Key: f1
Value: {'f11': ''}

Key: f11
Value: 

Key: s
Value: {}

Answer 3

If you want to iterate through nested dictionaries of unknown length try this. Recursion is the best way.

def recur(d):
    for key,val in d.items():
        print(key,val)
        if isinstance(val,dict):
            recur(val)

d={ 'f': { 'f1': { 'f11':''}, }, 's': {  }}
recur(d)

---

f {'f1': {'f11': ''}}
f1 {'f11': ''}
f11 
s {}

Answer 4

Try traversing like this:

for p in d:
    print(type(d[p]))