[Python-ideas] dictionary constructor should not allow duplicate keys

[Random832]

On Wed, May 4, 2016, at 08:22, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> (1) Because status quo wins. In the absence of a really compelling 
> reason to remove that check, we don't have to justify prohibing 
> duplicate keyword args, we just have to note that it is already in place 
> and so we shouldn't change it.
> 
> (2) Duplicate keys in a dict may have side-effects, which mean they do 
> something. Duplicate keyword arguments don't have side-effects (not in 
> the keys at least). So that's a difference.

f(a=1, b=2, **{foo(): bar()}) where foo may return 'a' or 'b', though
this is the first that I've heard that the side-effect argument only
applies to the keys.

> 
> (3) The analogy between function calls and dicts is not really that 
> strong. The dict constuctor intentionally allows certain duplicates:
> 
> py> dict({'a': None}, a=2)
> {'a': 2}
> 
> for good reason

but not {**{'a': None}, **{'a': 2}})

> (think of over-riding the values provided in the input 
> dict with keyword arguments), but it's not clear that there is an 
> analogy for function calls. Perhaps there is, and if it is a good enough 
> analogy, we might have to re-think the duplicate kwargs situation.

foo(**{'a':None}, a=2) seems like a perfect analogy to me.