24 lines
1.0 KiB
Markdown
24 lines
1.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Tip: You should use dict.get(key) instead of dict[key]"
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type: tip
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tags: python,dictionary
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authors: maciv
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cover: blog_images/fruit-feast.jpg
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excerpt: Learn the difference between two common ways to access values in Python dictionaries and level up your code today.
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firstSeen: 2021-01-07T11:00:00+02:00
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lastUpdated: 2021-06-12T19:30:41+03:00
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---
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A common debate among Python developers seems to stem from the retrieval of dictionary values, which can be accomplished using either `dict[key]` or `dict.get(key)`.
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Although you can achieve the same result using either one, `dict.get()` is usually preferred, as it accepts a second argument which acts as the default value shall the key not exist in the given dictionary. Due to this property, `dict.get()` will always return a value, whereas `dict[key]` will raise a `KeyError` if the given key is missing.
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```py
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a = { 'max': 200 }
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b = { 'min': 100, 'max': 250 }
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c = { 'min': 50 }
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a['min'] + b['min'] + c['min'] # throws KeyError
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a.get('min', 0) + b.get('min', 0) + c.get('min', 0) # 150
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```
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