PYTHON
Merge Two Dictionaries in Python
Learn how to efficiently combine two or more dictionaries into a single dictionary using Python's modern dictionary merge operators for cleaner code.
dict1 = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
dict2 = {'b': 3, 'c': 4}
# Python 3.9+ for merging
merged_dict_39 = dict1 | dict2
print(f"Merged (Python 3.9+): {merged_dict_39}")
# For Python 3.5-3.8 using unpacking operator
merged_dict_pre39 = {**dict1, **dict2}
print(f"Merged (Python 3.5-3.8): {merged_dict_pre39}")
# Note: If keys overlap, the value from the rightmost dictionary takes precedence.
How it works: This snippet demonstrates two ways to merge dictionaries in Python. For Python 3.9 and later, the `|` (union) operator provides a concise way to combine dictionaries. For older versions (Python 3.5 to 3.8), the dictionary unpacking operator `**` is used. In both cases, if identical keys exist in multiple dictionaries, the value from the dictionary appearing later in the merge operation will overwrite previous values. This is a fundamental operation for configuring and managing data in web applications.