When I'm working with Django I often like to create a base context which is a Python dict for a set of views and initially define them outside of each view. Within each view, instead of creating a new context, I prefer to update the context.
So, with Python, you can combine two dictionaries in a couple of different ways. Here are two methods:
Using update() Method:
You can think of dictionaries in Python like collections of information. Let's say you have two dictionaries, each with some details:
Dictionary 1: It contains information about a person named Sarah, like her age (15) and the number of books she has (3).
Dictionary 2: Now, you want to add more information to Dictionary 1, like Sarah's new age (16) and the fact that she got a new bicycle.
When you use the update() method, it's like taking the information from Dictionary 2 and adding it to Dictionary 1:
dict1 = {'app_name': 'MyApp', 'def_page_title': 'Welcome to MyApp'}
dict2 = {'objects': MyModel.objects.filter(is_active=True)}
dict1.update(dict2)
print(dict1)
The result will be:
{
'app_name': 'MyApp',
'def_page_title': 'Welcome to MyApp',
'objects': MyModel.objects.filter(is_active=True)
}
Using the Unpacking Operator (**):
You can also use the ** operator.
Let's use a simple example.
Imagine you have two sets of information about a person named David:
Set 1: It mentions David's favorite color (blue) and the number of pets he has (2 cats).
Set 2: Now, you want to combine Set 1 and Set 2 into a single set of information.
You can do this using the unpacking operator (**), which creates a new set of information by putting together everything from both sets:
set1 = {'color': 'blue', 'pets': '2 cats'}
set2 = {'color': 'green', 'hobby': 'playing chess'}
combined_set = {**set1, **set2}
print(combined_set)
The result will be:
{'color': 'green', 'pets': '2 cats', 'hobby': 'playing chess'}
In both cases, you're adding or merging information to create a more complete set of details, just like updating or combining facts about a person. Both ways work the same. But for me using {...}.update({...}) seems more readable.
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