pythondictionarykeynonetype

Return a default value if a dictionary key is not available

I need a way to get a dictionary value if its key exists, or simply return None, if it does not.

However, Python raises a KeyError exception if you search for a key that does not exist. I know that I can check for the key, but I am looking for something more explicit. Is there a way to just return None if the key does not exist?

See also: Why dict.get(key) instead of dict[key]?

Solution

  • You can use dict.get()

    value = d.get(key)

    which will return None if key is not in d. You can also provide a different default value that will be returned instead of None (unless the dict actually contains None as the value for this key):

    value = d.get(key, "empty")