> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.atfinity.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.atfinity.io/rule-language/operators/dictionary-operators/shorthand.md).

# Dictionary shorthand

{% hint style="info" %}
**New in Atfinity 17.**
{% endhint %}

### Description

Inside any dictionary literal, a bare identifier desugars to `key: 'key'`. That is, writing just the name of the key uses the same name (as a string) for the value.

This shorthand works in every dictionary literal, not only as the argument to [`to_dict`](/rule-language/operators/dictionary-operators/to_dict.md).

You can freely mix shorthand entries with explicit `key: value` entries within the same dictionary.

### Examples

```
{a, b}
// => {'a': 'a', 'b': 'b'}
```

Mixing shorthand and explicit values:

```
{a, b: 'two', c}
// => {'a': 'a', 'b': 'two', 'c': 'c'}
```


---

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