arbitrary depth dictionary lookup in one line? python

Question

So let's say I have a dictionary of form:

d = {'a':{'b':{'c':1,'d':2},'e':1}}

And I wish to fetch an element from this dictionary with keys defined in a list eg:

l = ['a','e']

or

l = ['a','b','c']

I could do so with something like:

def getVal(d,keys):
    if keys==[]:
        return d
    else:
        nextD = d[keys.pop(0)]
        return getVal(nextD,keys)

But I'm wondering if there is a more wizardy python way to do it

(something along the lines of val = d[*l] ???)

Agreed. I hadn't seen that question. Do I now mark this as answered? Martijn - do you want to post your comment as answer? — John Greenall, Dec 19 '13 at 11:56
No, I voted to close as a duplicate instead; no need to mark anything as answered. — Martijn Pieters, Dec 19 '13 at 13:01

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 19 '13 at 13:01

0

According to the link in Martijn's comment, the answer to this question would be:

def getVal(d,keys):
    return reduce(dict.__getitem__, keys, d)

answered Dec 19 '13 at 13:01

Timothy

3

This is why we vote to close as a duplicate instead. – Martijn Pieters Dec 19 '13 at 13:01
@MartijnPieters Agreed. By the way I'm curious that are you a contributor to python? – Timothy Dec 19 '13 at 13:04
I occasionally make contributions, I am not a core developer. – Martijn Pieters Dec 19 '13 at 13:06
1

Become a member of the community. Discuss ideas and plans on the development list, pick up bugs in the bug tracker and propose patches to solve them, etc. That's how it works for most Open Source projects. – Martijn Pieters Dec 19 '13 at 13:22

1 Answers1