Difference between dict.clear() and assigning {} in Python

Question

In python, is there a difference between calling clear() and assigning {} to a dictionary? If yes, what is it? Example:

d = {\"stuff\":\"         


        

Answer 1

In addition to @odano 's answer, it seems using d.clear() is faster if you would like to clear the dict for many times.

import timeit

p1 = ''' 
d = {}
for i in xrange(1000):
    d[i] = i * i
for j in xrange(100):
    d = {}
    for i in xrange(1000):
        d[i] = i * i
'''

p2 = ''' 
d = {}
for i in xrange(1000):
    d[i] = i * i
for j in xrange(100):
    d.clear()
    for i in xrange(1000):
        d[i] = i * i
'''

print timeit.timeit(p1, number=1000)
print timeit.timeit(p2, number=1000)

The result is:

20.0367929935
19.6444659233