Handling Duplicate Keys in a Python Dictionary with Custom Logic
I tried several approaches but none seem to work..... I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but I'm working on a project and hit a roadblock... I'm trying to create a Python dictionary that can handle duplicate keys by merging their values in a specific way. The goal is to combine the values into a list whenever a duplicate key is encountered. However, I'm struggling with how to implement this properly without losing any data or overwriting existing values. For example, if I have the following input data: ```python input_data = [ ('apple', 1), ('banana', 2), ('apple', 3), ('banana', 4), ('orange', 5) ] ``` I want the resulting dictionary to look like this: ```python result = { 'apple': [1, 3], 'banana': [2, 4], 'orange': 5 } ``` I've tried using a simple loop to iterate over the input data, but I keep running into issues where the values for duplicate keys are not being stored correctly. Here’s what I’ve attempted: ```python def merge_dict(input_data): result = {} for key, value in input_data: if key in result: result[key].append(value) # Attempting to append to the existing list else: result[key] = value # This is where I'm exploring for duplicates return result ``` With this approach, I get an behavior when the key already exists because I'm trying to append to an integer instead of a list. I’ve also looked into using `collections.defaultdict`, but I’m not sure how to implement that in this specific case to achieve the desired output. Can someone provide a solution or point me in the right direction? Thanks! Am I missing something obvious? Any feedback is welcome! I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks, I really appreciate it!