Sometimes, while working with Python, we might have a problem in which we need to get the values of dictionary from several dictionaries to be encapsulated into one dictionary. This type of problem can be common in domains in which we work with relational data like in web developments. Let’s discuss certain ways in which this problem can be solved.
Method #1 : Using setdefault() + loop This task can be performed using a nested loop and fetching each element of dictionary and creating a new list to new key or appending the values in case of similar key occurrence.
Python3
# Python3 code to demonstrate working of# Merge Python key values to list# Using setdefault() + loop# Initialize listtest_list = [{'gfg' : 2, 'is' : 4, 'best' : 6}, {'it' : 5, 'is' : 7, 'best' : 8}, {'CS' : 10}]# Printing original listprint("The original list is : " + str(test_list))# using setdefault() + loop# Merge Python key values to listres = {}for sub in test_list: for key, val in sub.items(): res.setdefault(key, []).append(val)# printing result print("The merged values encapsulated dictionary is : " + str(res)) |
The original list is : [{‘is’: 4, ‘gfg’: 2, ‘best’: 6}, {‘it’: 5, ‘is’: 7, ‘best’: 8}, {‘CS’: 10}] The merged values encapsulated dictionary is : {‘is’: [4, 7], ‘it’: [5], ‘gfg’: [2], ‘CS’: [10], ‘best’: [6, 8]}
Time Complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(n)
Method #2 : Using list comprehension + dictionary comprehension The combination of above can be used to perform this particular task. This offers a one liner that can be employed for this task. Even though it might be efficient on performance domain.
Python3
# Python3 code to demonstrate working of# Merge Python key values to list# Using list comprehension + dictionary comprehension# Initialize listtest_list = [{'gfg' : 2, 'is' : 4, 'best' : 6}, {'it' : 5, 'is' : 7, 'best' : 8}, {'CS' : 10}]# Printing original listprint("The original list is : " + str(test_list))# using list comprehension + dictionary comprehension# Merge Python key values to listres = {key: list({sub[key] for sub in test_list if key in sub}) for key in {key for sub in test_list for key in sub}}# printing result print("The merged values encapsulated dictionary is : " + str(res)) |
The original list is : [{‘is’: 4, ‘gfg’: 2, ‘best’: 6}, {‘it’: 5, ‘is’: 7, ‘best’: 8}, {‘CS’: 10}] The merged values encapsulated dictionary is : {‘is’: [4, 7], ‘it’: [5], ‘gfg’: [2], ‘CS’: [10], ‘best’: [6, 8]}
The time complexity of this method is O(n^2) where n is the number of elements in the input list of dictionaries.
The auxiliary space complexity of this method is also O(n^2), because it creates a new set for every key in every dictionary, and a new list for every unique value.
Method 3: Using defaultdict
- Initialize list
- Printing original list
- Using defaultdict Merge Python key values to list
- Convert defaultdict to a regular dictionary
Python3
from collections import defaultdict# Initialize listtest_list = [{'gfg' : 2, 'is' : 4, 'best' : 6}, {'it' : 5, 'is' : 7, 'best' : 8}, {'CS' : 10}]# Printing original listprint("The original list is : " + str(test_list))# using defaultdict# Merge Python key values to listres = defaultdict(list)for sub in test_list: for key, val in sub.items(): res[key].append(val)# convert defaultdict to a regular dictionaryres = dict(res)# printing result print("The merged values encapsulated dictionary is : " + str(res)) |
The original list is : [{'gfg': 2, 'is': 4, 'best': 6}, {'it': 5, 'is': 7, 'best': 8}, {'CS': 10}]
The merged values encapsulated dictionary is : {'gfg': [2], 'is': [4, 7], 'best': [6, 8], 'it': [5], 'CS': [10]}
Time Complexity: O(n)
Auxiliary Space: O(n)
