python dict: get vs setdefault

Question

The following two expressions seem equivalent to me. Which one is preferable?

data = [(\'a\', 1), (\'b\', 1), (\'b\', 2)]

d1 = {}
d2 = {}

for key, val in d         


        

Answer 1

The logic of dict.get is:

if key in a_dict:
    value = a_dict[key] 
else: 
    value = default_value

Take an example:

In [72]: a_dict = {'mapping':['dict', 'OrderedDict'], 'array':['list', 'tuple']}
In [73]: a_dict.get('string', ['str', 'bytes'])
Out[73]: ['str', 'bytes']
In [74]: a_dict.get('array', ['str', 'byets'])
Out[74]: ['list', 'tuple']

The mechamism of setdefault is:

    levels = ['master', 'manager', 'salesman', 'accountant', 'assistant']
    #group them by the leading letter
    group_by_leading_letter = {}
    # the logic expressed by obvious if condition
    for level in levels:
        leading_letter = level[0]
        if leading_letter not in group_by_leading_letter:
            group_by_leading_letter[leading_letter] = [level]
        else:
            group_by_leading_letter[leading_letter].append(word)
    In [80]: group_by_leading_letter
    Out[80]: {'a': ['accountant', 'assistant'], 'm': ['master', 'manager'], 's': ['salesman']}

The setdefault dict method is for precisely this purpose. The preceding for loop can be rewritten as:

In [87]: for level in levels:
    ...:     leading = level[0]
    ...:     group_by_leading_letter.setdefault(leading,[]).append(level)
Out[80]: {'a': ['accountant', 'assistant'], 'm': ['master', 'manager'], 's': ['salesman']}

It's very simple, means that either a non-null list append an element or a null list append an element.

The defaultdict, which makes this even easier. To create one, you pass a type or function for generating the default value for each slot in the dict:

from collections import defualtdict
group_by_leading_letter = defaultdict(list)
for level in levels:
    group_by_leading_letter[level[0]].append(level)