What does the popitem() method do in Python dictionaries?

a) Removes and returns the last inserted key-value pair from the dictionary

b) Removes and returns the first key-value pair from the dictionary

c) Removes all key-value pairs from the dictionary

d) Adds a new key-value pair to the dictionary

Answer:

a) Removes and returns the last inserted key-value pair from the dictionary

Explanation:

The popitem() method in Python dictionaries removes and returns the last inserted key-value pair as a tuple. This method is useful when you need to remove and process elements from a dictionary in the order they were added, especially in Python 3.7 and later, where dictionaries maintain insertion order.

# Example of popitem() method
student = {"name": "John", "age": 20, "major": "Computer Science"}
last_item = student.popitem()
print(last_item)  # Output: ('major', 'Computer Science')
print(student)    # Output: {'name': 'John', 'age': 20}

In this example, the popitem() method removes and returns the last inserted key-value pair (“major”: “Computer Science”) from the student dictionary.

The popitem() method is particularly useful in scenarios where you need to process or remove items from a dictionary in the reverse order of their insertion.