d = {"foo" : "bar", "spam" : "eggs"}

print "d has $(d.Count) items"

//add a new item:
d["test"] = "new item"

print "d has ${d.Count} items"

//change an existing item
d["foo"] = "barbar"

//print everything in the dictionary
for item in d:  //item is of type System.Collections.DictionaryEntry
    print item.Key, ":", item.Value

//an alternative way
for key in d.Keys:
    print key, "->", d[key]

if d.ContainsKey("foo"):
    print "has key foo"

if d.ContainsValue("eggs"):
    print "has value eggs"

//get the first key: (have to explicitly convert to an array)
print "first key:", array(d.Keys)[0]

//print the first value
print "first value:", array(d.Values)[0]

//convert hash to a jagged array like python's dictionary.items:
items = array((item.Key, item.Value) for item in d)
//(('spam', 'eggs'), ('foo', 'barbar'), ('test', 'new item'))


//Remove an item:
d.Remove("test")


//Getting a default value if the key is not found:
//This works because d["badkey"] will return null
item = d["badkey"] or "default value"