[Python-Dev] dict.addlist()

[Alex Martelli]

On 2004 Jan 20, at 19:32, Raymond Hettinger wrote:
    ...
> d = {}
> d.setfactory(list)
> for k, v in myitems:
> 	d[k].append(v)		# dict of lists
>
> d = {}
> d.setfactory(set):
> for v in mydata:
> 	d[f(v)].add(v)		# partition into equivalence classes
>
> d = {}
> d.setfactory(int):
> for v in mydata:
> 	d[k] += 1			# bag

Yes, except that a .factory property seems preferable to me to a 
.setfactory setter-method (which would have to come with .getfactory or 
equivalent if introspection, pickling etc are to work...) except 
perhaps for the usual "we don't have a built-in curry" issues (so 
.setfactory might carry arguments after the first [callable factory] 
one to perform the usual "ad hoc currying" hac^H^H^H idiom).  In fact 
I'd _love_ this approach, were it not for the fact that in some use 
cases I'd like the factory to receive the key as its argument.  E.g.:

squares_of_ints = {}
def swe_factory(k):
     assert isinstance(k, (int, long))
     return k*k
squares_of_ints.setfactory_receiving_key(swe_factory)


Alex