How to copy a dict and modify it in one line of code

Question

Very often I need to create dicts that differ one from another by an item or two. Here is what I usually do:

setup1 = {\'param1\': val1, 
            \'param         


        

Answer 1

Solution

Build a function for that.

Your intention would be clearer when you use it in the code, and you can handle complicated decisions (e.g., deep versus shallow copy) in a single place.

def copy_dict(source_dict, diffs):
    """Returns a copy of source_dict, updated with the new key-value
       pairs in diffs."""
    result=dict(source_dict) # Shallow copy, see addendum below
    result.update(diffs)
    return result

And now the copy is atomic, assuming no threads involved:

setup2=copy_dict(setup1, {'param1': val10, 'param2': val20})

Addendum - deep copy

For primitives (integers and strings), there is no need for deep copy:

>>> d1={1:'s', 2:'g', 3:'c'}
>>> d2=dict(d1)
>>> d1[1]='a'
>>> d1
{1: 'a', 2: 'g', 3: 'c'}
>>> d2
{1: 's', 2: 'g', 3: 'c'}

If you need a deep copy, use the copy module:

result=copy.deepcopy(source_dict) # Deep copy

instead of:

result=dict(setup1)               # Shallow copy

Make sure all the objects in your dictionary supports deep copy (any object that can be pickled should do).