For quick reference, all the following methods will add a new key 'a' if it does not exist already or it will update the existing key value pair with the new value offered:
data['a']=1
data.update({'a':1})
data.update(dict(a=1))
data.update(a=1)
You can also mixing them up, for example, if key 'c' is in data but 'd' is not, the following method will updates 'c' and adds 'd'
data.update({'c':3,'d':4})