[Tutor] How the shell relates to programs in idle

[daniel rieder]

I am new to Python and am going through a guide at anh.cs.edu/handsonPythonTutorial.
I am learning how to create dictionaries PLUS learning how, when a program is run, the variables and, as I understand it, dictionaries created in a program that is run from idle are retained so they can be accessed via the shell.  For example, I created a program that, among other things, creates a variable x=3.  After I ran the program, I used the shell and entered print(x) and it dutifully printed 3.  Well and good.

But supposedly if I create a dictionary in a program and run that program, the dictionary is still “stored” by python such that if I enter a print line in the shell referencing the dictionary, it should print the contents I indexed.

Here is the program:


def createDictionary():

    '''Returns a tiny Spanish dictionary'''

    spanish = dict()

    spanish['hello'] = 'hola'

    spanish['yes'] = 'si'

    spanish['one'] = 'uno'

    spanish['two'] = 'dos'

    spanish['three'] = 'tres'

    spanish['red'] = 'rojo'

    spanish['black'] = 'negro'

    spanish['green'] = 'verde'

    spanish['blue'] = 'azul'

    return spanish



def main():

    dictionary = createDictionary()

    print(dictionary['two'])

    print(dictionary['red'])



main()

When I ran the program, it displayed ‘dos’ and ‘rojo’ as intended.  Then immediately afterward, using the shell, I typed in: print (dictionary[‘two’]) hoping it would access the dictionary and print “dos,” but it returned an error message:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<pyshell#10>", line 1, in <module>
    print (spanish['two'])
NameError: name 'dictionary' is not defined

Did I make a mistake in how I referenced the dictionary?  Or is the guidance I am following somehow outdated such that NOW python no longer stores dictionaries after the program is run like it seems to store variables…like it did  x in the above example?
Thanks, Dan