pythonpython-3.xdictionarygraph-theoryattributeerror

How can I correct the error ' AttributeError: 'dict_keys' object has no attribute 'remove' '?


I'm trying to code the shortest path finder using Dijkstra's algorithm but it doesn't seem to be working. I can't figure out what the problem is. I'm working on Python 3.5 and following this video.

Here is the code:

graph = {
    'A': {'B': 10, 'D': 4, 'F': 10},
    'B': {'E': 5, 'J': 10, 'I': 17},
    'C': {'A': 4, 'D': 10, 'E': 16},
    'D': {'F': 12, 'G': 21},
    'E': {'G': 4},
    'F': {'E': 3},
    'G': {'J': 3},
    'H': {'G': 3, 'J': 3},
    'I': {},
    'J': {'I': 8},
}

def dijkstra(graph, start, end):
    D = {}
    P = {}
    for node in graph.keys():
        D[node]= -1
        P[node]=""
    D[start]=0
    unseen_nodes=graph.keys()
    while len(unseen_nodes) > 0:
        shortest=None
        node=' '
        for temp_node in unseen_nodes:
            if shortest==None:
                shortest = D[temp_node]
                node = temp_node
            elif D[temp_node]<shortest:
                    shortest=D[temp_node]
                    node=temp_node
        unseen_nodes.remove(node)
        for child_node, child_value in graph[node].items():
            if D[child_node] < D[node] + child_value:
                D[child_node] = D[node] + child_value
                P[child_node]=node
    path = []
    node = end
    while not (node==start):
        if path.count(node)==0:
            path.insert(0, node)
            node=P[node]
        else:
            break
    path.insert(0, start)
    return path

and here is the error message:

AttributeError: 'dict_keys' object has no attribute 'remove'

Solution

  • In Python 3, dict.keys() returns a dict_keys object (a view of the dictionary) which does not have remove method; unlike Python 2, where dict.keys() returns a list object.

    >>> graph = {'a': []}
    >>> keys = graph.keys()
    >>> keys
    dict_keys(['a'])
    >>> keys.remove('a')
    Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
    AttributeError: 'dict_keys' object has no attribute 'remove'
    

    You can use list(..) to get a keys list:

    >>> keys = list(graph)
    >>> keys
    ['a']
    >>> keys.remove('a')
    >>> keys
    []
    

    unseen_nodes = graph.keys()
    

    to

    unseen_nodes = list(graph)