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Python Dict Intersection - Find Common Keys

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📘 Python Dictionary Intersection​

In Python, a dictionary is used to store key-value pairs. Dictionary intersection involves finding the common elements (keys or values) between two or more dictionaries.

a = {'x': 1, 'y': 2, 'z': 3}
b = {'u': 1, 'v': 2, 'w': 3, 'x': 1, 'y': 2}

commonKeys = a.keys() & b.keys()
print(commonKeys)   # {'y', 'x'}

commonItems = a.items() & b.items()
print(commonItems)  # {('x', 1), ('y', 2)}

Python offers multiple ways to perform dictionary intersections. Let’s dive into some of the common techniques.

1. 🔗 Dictionary Intersection using & Operator​

The simplest method to find the intersection of keys, values or items is to use & (ampersand) operator between two dictionaries. This operator creates a new dictionary containing only the key-value pairs that are common to both dictionaries.

In the following example, when we convert a dictionary to a set using set(), it considers only the keys of the dictionary and discards any duplicate keys. When we use the & operator to perform the set intersection operation between setA and setB, it results in a new set setOfCommonKeys containing keys that exist in both dictionaries.

dictA = { 'x' : 1, 'y' : 2, 'z' : 3 }
dictB = { 'u' : 1, 'v' : 2, 'w' : 3, 'x'  : 1, 'y': 2 }

# commonKeys = dictA.keys() & dictB.keys()
# print(commonKeys)   # {'y', 'x'}

setA = set(dictA)
setB = set(dictB)

setOfCommonKeys = setA & setB
print(setOfCommonKeys)  # Prints {'x', 'y'}

We can use this operator with other collection types to write more robust code as well.

2. 📌 Dictionary Intersection using set.intersection()​

In Python, the set.intersection() method returns a set that contains the items that exist in both Set a and Set b.

dictA = { 'x' : 1, 'y' : 2, 'z' : 3 }
dictB = { 'u' : 1, 'v' : 2, 'w' : 3, 'x'  : 1, 'y': 2 }

setA = set(dictA)
setB = set(dictB)

setOfCommonKeys = setA.intersection(setB)

print(setOfCommonKeys)  # Prints {'x', 'y'}

3. 🧮 Dictionary Intersection using collections Module​

The collections module in Python provides the Counter class, which can be used to find the intersection of dictionaries.

from collections import Counter

dictA = { 'x' : 1, 'y' : 2, 'z' : 3 }
dictB = { 'u' : 1, 'v' : 2, 'w' : 3, 'x'  : 1, 'y': 2 }

common_keys = (Counter(dictA) & Counter(dictB)).keys()

print(set(common_keys))  # Prints {'x', 'y'}

4. 🧠 Dictionary Intersection using Comprehension​

One of the most straightforward ways to find common keys between dictionaries is by using dictionary comprehension.

When given two dictionaries dict1 and dict2, using dictionary comprehension, we iterate through the keys of dict1 and check if each key exists in dict2. If a key is found in both dictionaries, we add it to the common_keys dictionary along with its value.

dictA = { 'x' : 1, 'y' : 2, 'z' : 3 }
dictB = { 'u' : 1, 'v' : 2, 'w' : 3, 'x'  : 1, 'y': 2 }

common_keys = {key: dictA[key] for key in dictA if key in dictB}

print(common_keys)  # Prints {'x': 1, 'y': 2}

💬 Drop me your questions related to checking if two dictionaries have the same keys in Python.

🧠 Happy Learning !!