Problem Formulation and Solution Overview
You are in the market for a car and have narrowed the search to a few possibilities. Your final choice will be based on the vehicle possessing the maximum MPG. A list of these cars was provided to you in a Dictionary key:value format.
import operator
Method 1: Use dict.values() and max() to display max value
Use dict.values()
and max()
to determine and return the maximum value in a Dictionary using max(dict.values())
.
cars_dict = {'Malibu': 18, 'Skylark': 16, 'Satellite': 19, 'Torino': 27, 'Challenge': 20} car_values = cars_dict.values() max_value = max(car_values) print(max_value)
This code declares a Dictionary containing five (5) key:value pairs of cars
and associated MPG
. The values from each pair are extracted and saved to car_values
.
The max()
function is called and passed car_values
to determine and return the maximum value. The result saves to max_value
and is output to the terminal.
Output
27 |
Method 2: Use list and max() to display max value
Use List and max()
to determine and return the maximum value with max(list(cars_dict.values()))
.
Here’s an example:
cars_dict = {'Malibu': 18, 'Skylark': 16, 'Satellite': 19, 'Torino': 27, 'Challenge': 20} max_val = max(list(cars_dict.values())) print(max_val)
This code converts a Dictionary into a List, extracting values from the key:value pairs and max()
to determine and return the maximum value.
The result saves to max_value
and is output to the terminal.
Output
27 |
Method 3: Use dict.keys() and dict.values() to display max value and key
This example uses dict.keys()
and dict.values()
to determine and return the maximum value and associated key.
cars_dict = {'Malibu': 18, 'Skylark': 16, 'Satellite': 19, 'Torino': 27, 'Challenger': 20} sort_dict = sorted(cars_dict.items(), key=operator.itemgetter(1), reverse=True) print(f'{sort_dict[0][0]}:\t{sort_dict[0][1]}')
This code declares a Dictionary containing five (5) key:value pairs of cars
and associated MPG
.
Then dict.items()
and operator.itemgetter()
sort the Dictionary key: value pairs in descending order. The maximum key:value pair is set as the first element.
The formatted result is output to the terminal.
Output
Torino: 27 |
Method 4: Use dict.get and max() to display max value and key
Use dict.get
and max()
to determine and return the maximum value and associated key with max(dict, key=cars_dict.get)
.
cars_dict = {'Malibu': 18, 'Skylark': 16, 'Satellite': 19, 'Torino': 27, 'Challenger': 20} max_val = max(cars_dict, key=cars_dict.get) print(max_val, cars_dict[max_val])
This code declares a Dictionary containing five (5) key:value pairs of cars
and associated MPG
.
Then max
is called passing the dictionary and retrieving the key:value pairs, which save to max_val
.
The print
statement determines the maximum value and outputs the appropriate key:value pair to the terminal.
Output
Torino 27 |
Summary
These four (4) methods of finding the maximum value in a Dictionary should give you enough information to select the best one for your coding requirements.
Good Luck & Happy Coding!

At university, I found my love of writing and coding. Both of which I was able to use in my career.
During the past 15 years, I have held a number of positions such as:
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