How does collections.defaultdict work?

Question

I\'ve read the examples in python docs, but still can\'t figure out what this method means. Can somebody help? Here are two examples from the python docs

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Answer 1

The standard dictionary includes the method setdefault() for retrieving a value and establishing a default if the value does not exist. By contrast, defaultdict lets the caller specify the default up front when the container is initialized.

import collections

def default_factory():
    return 'default value'

d = collections.defaultdict(default_factory, foo='bar')
print 'd:', d
print 'foo =>', d['foo']
print 'bar =>', d['bar']

This works well as long as it is appropriate for all keys to have the same default. It can be especially useful if the default is a type used for aggregating or accumulating values, such as a list, set, or even int. The standard library documentation includes several examples of using defaultdict this way.

$ python collections_defaultdict.py

d: defaultdict(, {'foo': 'bar'})
foo => bar
bar => default value