`if key in dict` vs. `try/except` - which is more readable idiom?

Question

I have a question about idioms and readability, and there seems to be a clash of Python philosophies for this particular case:

I want to build dictionary A from dict

Answer 1

Direct quote from Python performance wiki:

Except for the first time, each time a word is seen the if statement's test fails. If you are counting a large number of words, many will probably occur multiple times. In a situation where the initialization of a value is only going to occur once and the augmentation of that value will occur many times it is cheaper to use a try statement.

So it seems that both options are viable depending from situation. For more details you might like to check this link out: Try-except-performance