How do I merge a list of dicts into a single dict?
PythonListDictionaryPython Problem Overview
How can I turn a list of dicts like this..
[{'a':1}, {'b':2}, {'c':1}, {'d':2}]
...into a single dict like this:
{'a':1, 'b':2, 'c':1, 'd':2}
Python Solutions
Solution 1 - Python
This works for dictionaries of any length:
>>> result = {}
>>> for d in L:
... result.update(d)
...
>>> result
{'a':1,'c':1,'b':2,'d':2}
As a comprehension:
# Python >= 2.7
{k: v for d in L for k, v in d.items()}
# Python < 2.7
dict(pair for d in L for pair in d.items())
Solution 2 - Python
In case of Python 3.3+, there is a ChainMap collection:
>>> from collections import ChainMap
>>> a = [{'a':1},{'b':2},{'c':1},{'d':2}]
>>> dict(ChainMap(*a))
{'b': 2, 'c': 1, 'a': 1, 'd': 2}
Also see:
Solution 3 - Python
Little improvement for @dietbuddha answer with dictionary unpacking from PEP 448, for me, it`s more readable this way, also, it is faster as well:
from functools import reduce
result_dict = reduce(lambda a, b: {**a, **b}, list_of_dicts)
But keep in mind, this works only with Python 3.5+ versions.
Solution 4 - Python
This is similar to @delnan but offers the option to modify the k/v (key/value) items and I believe is more readable:
new_dict = {k:v for list_item in list_of_dicts for (k,v) in list_item.items()}
for instance, replace k/v elems as follows:
new_dict = {str(k).replace(" ","_"):v for list_item in list_of_dicts for (k,v) in list_item.items()}
unpacks the k,v tuple from the dictionary .items() generator after pulling the dict object out of the list
Solution 5 - Python
For flat dictionaries you can do this:
from functools import reduce
reduce(lambda a, b: dict(a, **b), list_of_dicts)
Solution 6 - Python
>>> L=[{'a': 1}, {'b': 2}, {'c': 1}, {'d': 2}]
>>> dict(i.items()[0] for i in L)
{'a': 1, 'c': 1, 'b': 2, 'd': 2}
Note: the order of 'b' and 'c' doesn't match your output because dicts are unordered
if the dicts can have more than one key/value
>>> dict(j for i in L for j in i.items())
Solution 7 - Python
Solution 8 - Python
dict1.update( dict2 )
This is asymmetrical because you need to choose what to do with duplicate keys; in this case, dict2 will overwrite dict1. Exchange them for the other way.
EDIT: Ah, sorry, didn't see that.
It is possible to do this in a single expression:
>>> from itertools import chain
>>> dict( chain( *map( dict.items, theDicts ) ) )
{'a': 1, 'c': 1, 'b': 2, 'd': 2}
No credit to me for this last!
However, I'd argue that it might be more Pythonic (explicit > implicit, flat > nested ) to do this with a simple for loop. YMMV.
Solution 9 - Python
If you don't need the singleton dicts anymore:
>>> L = [{'a':1}, {'b':2}, {'c':1}, {'d':2}]
>>> dict(map(dict.popitem, L))
{'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 1, 'd': 2}
Solution 10 - Python
>>> dictlist = [{'a':1},{'b':2},{'c':1},{'d':2, 'e':3}]
>>> dict(kv for d in dictlist for kv in d.iteritems())
{'a': 1, 'c': 1, 'b': 2, 'e': 3, 'd': 2}
>>>
Note I added a second key/value pair to the last dictionary to show it works with multiple entries. Also keys from dicts later in the list will overwrite the same key from an earlier dict.