[Python-Dev] Proposal: defaultdict

[Ian Bicking]

Adam Olsen wrote:
> The latter is even the prefered form, since it only invokes a single
> dict lookup:
> 
> On 2/16/06, Delaney, Timothy (Tim) <tdelaney at avaya.com> wrote:
> 
>>    try:
>>        v = d[key]
>>    except:
>>        v = d[key] = value
> 
> 
> Obviously this example could be changed to use default_factory, but I
> find it hard to believe the only use of that pattern is to set default
> keys.

I'd go further -- I doubt many cases where try:except KeyError: is used 
could be refactored to use default_factory -- default_factory can only 
be used to set default keys to something that can be determined sometime 
close to the time the dictionary is created, and that the default is not 
dependent on the context in which the key is fetched, and that default 
value will not cause unintended side effects if the dictionary leaks out 
of the code where it was initially used (like if the dictionary is 
returned to someone).  Any default factory is more often an algorithmic 
detail than truly part of the nature of the dictionary itself.

For instance, here is something I do often:

try:
     value = cache[key]
except KeyError:
     ... calculate value ...
     cache[key] = value

Realistically, factoring "... calculate value ..." into a factory that 
calculates the value would be difficult, produce highly unreadable code, 
perform worse, and have more bugs.  For simple factories like "list" and 
"dict" the factory works okay.  For immutable values like 0 and None, 
the factory (lambda : 0 and lambda : None) is a wasteful way to create a 
default value (because storing the value in the dictionary is 
unnecessary).  For non-trivial factories the whole thing falls apart, 
and one can just hope that no one will try to use this feature and will 
instead stick with the try:except KeyError: technique.


-- 
Ian Bicking  /  ianb at colorstudy.com  /  http://blog.ianbicking.org