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Message: [QUOTE="John Machin, post: 3609941"] dict.has_key(key) is nigh on obsolete since Python 2.2 introduced the "key in dict" syntax. and foo[key] += bar[key] works in Python 2.1, maybe earlier. Yeah, probably better than using has_key ... I'm not sure what relevance dict.update has to the OP's problem. Help is fine for when you need a reminder of the syntax of some method you already know about. I'd suggest reading the manual of a modern version of Python ([URL]http://docs.python.org/lib/typesmapping.html[/URL]) to get an overview of all the dict methods. The manual includes useful information that isn't in help, like "a.has_key(k) Equivalent to k in a, use that form in new code". [/QUOTE]