merging several python dictionaries
Merge the keys of all dicts, and for each key assemble the list of values:
super_dict = {}
for k in set(k for d in dicts for k in d):
super_dict[k] = [d[k] for d in dicts if k in d]
The expression set(k for d in dicts for k in d)
builds a set of all unique keys of all dictionaries. For each of these unique keys, we use the list comprehension [d[k] for d in dicts if k in d]
to build the list of values from all dicts for this key.
Since you only seem to one the unique value of each key, you might want to use sets instead:
super_dict = {}
for k in set(k for d in dicts for k in d):
super_dict[k] = set(d[k] for d in dicts if k in d)
You can iterate over the dictionaries directly -- no need to use range
. The setdefault
method of dict looks up a key, and returns the value if found. If not found, it returns a default, and also assigns that default to the key.
super_dict = {}
for d in dicts:
for k, v in d.iteritems(): # d.items() in Python 3+
super_dict.setdefault(k, []).append(v)
Also, you might consider using a defaultdict
. This just automates setdefault
by calling a function to return a default value when a key isn't found.
import collections
super_dict = collections.defaultdict(list)
for d in dicts:
for k, v in d.iteritems(): # d.items() in Python 3+
super_dict[k].append(v)
Also, as Sven Marnach astutely observed, you seem to want no duplication of values in your lists. In that case, set
gets you what you want:
import collections
super_dict = collections.defaultdict(set)
for d in dicts:
for k, v in d.iteritems(): # d.items() in Python 3+
super_dict[k].add(v)
from collections import defaultdict
dicts = [{'a':1, 'b':2, 'c':3},
{'a':1, 'd':2, 'c':'foo'},
{'e':57, 'c':3} ]
super_dict = defaultdict(set) # uses set to avoid duplicates
for d in dicts:
for k, v in d.items(): # use d.iteritems() in python 2
super_dict[k].add(v)
you can use this behaviour of dict. (a bit elegant)
a = {'a':1, 'b':2, 'c':3}
b = {'d':1, 'e':2, 'f':3}
c = {1:1, 2:2, 3:3}
merge = {**a, **b, **c}
print(merge) # {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3, 'd': 1, 'e': 2, 'f': 3, 1: 1, 2: 2, 3: 3}
and you are good to go :)