title: Inserting variables into a dictionary in Python
body: <p>Why is this code adding the key but not the value for a dictionary in Python?</p>
  
  <p>Here is the result:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$ python hashtest.py
  set(['yes:no'])
  set(['hi', 'yes:no'])
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>And the code is as follows:</p>
  
  <pre><code>hashmap={"yes:no"}
  
  print hashmap
  var1="hi"
  var2="bye"
  
  #hashmap[var1]=var2
  #print hashmap
  
  hashmap.update({var1:var2})
  print hashmap
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The first method (<code>hashmap[var1] = var2</code>) gave a type error (assignment).</p>
  
  <p>TIA</p>