Convert Dictionary to String, vice versa?

[Benjamin Niemann]

Byron wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I am a newbie and would like to know if it is possible to convert a 
> string back to a dictionary?
> 
> For example, I can convert a dictionary to a string by doing this:
> 
>     >>> names = {"Candy" : 2.95, "Popcorn" : 4.95}
>     >>> strNames = str(names)
>     >>> print strNames
>     {'Popcorn': 4.9500000000000002, 'Candy': 2.9500000000000002}
> 
> However,  is there a way to convert a string back to a dictionary?
No way that I would know of. What is your intention?
Does the exact format of the string representation matter? If not, take 
a look at the pickle module.