What is the best way to implement nested dictionaries?

Question

I have a data structure which essentially amounts to a nested dictionary. Let\'s say it looks like this:

{\'new jersey\': {\'mercer county\': {\'plumbers\':          


        

Answer 1

You can use recursion in lambdas and defaultdict, no need to define names:

a = defaultdict((lambda f: f(f))(lambda g: lambda:defaultdict(g(g))))

Here's an example:

>>> a['new jersey']['mercer county']['plumbers']=3
>>> a['new jersey']['middlesex county']['programmers']=81
>>> a['new jersey']['mercer county']['programmers']=81
>>> a['new jersey']['middlesex county']['salesmen']=62
>>> a
defaultdict(>,
        {'new jersey': defaultdict(>,
                     {'mercer county': defaultdict(>,
                                  {'plumbers': 3, 'programmers': 81}),
                      'middlesex county': defaultdict(>,
                                  {'programmers': 81, 'salesmen': 62})})})