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Python: Which practice avoids a common mistake with Dictionaries and Hash Tables?

Difficulty:

Medium

Questions:

1

Time Limit:

2 minutes

Passing Score:

100%

Question

Which practice avoids a common mistake with Dictionaries and Hash Tables?

  1. Ignore the Dictionaries and Hash Tables issue and rely on team discipline instead of clearer APIs or invariants.
  2. Silence the Dictionaries and Hash Tables problem by using broad catches, hidden globals, or extra shared mutable state.
  3. Do not assume every object is a safe dict key if its hashability or equality semantics are unstable or poorly defined.
  4. Prefer the version of Dictionaries and Hash Tables that makes behavior less predictable as long as the code still runs.

Hint

Look for the option that protects correctness instead of hiding the problem.

Answer and rationale

Correct answer: C. Do not assume every object is a safe dict key if its hashability or equality semantics are unstable or poorly defined.

Do not assume every object is a safe dict key if its hashability or equality semantics are unstable or poorly defined. This is a common failure mode in real Python code and a frequent interview follow-up.

Track: Python