Python 2.7 has the very useful ordereddict data type in its collections module. This is mostly like a standard dictionary, but maintains a consistent ordering of its elements rather than returning them in an arbitrary order. I have found it very useful for a number of tasks. It is fully backwards compatible with 2.6 at least, I was able to just use it straight from the 2.7 collections module source (since at least that part is written in pure python). It would be nice if this was either added to the collections module or the Python 2.7 Compatibility module of kitchen. -Todd