An example -- revisited
>>> wordcount = {}
>>> for line in file(‘a_file.txt’, ‘r’):
...     for word in line.split():
...         word = word.lower()
...         try:
...             wordcount[word] = wordcount[word]+1
...         except KeyError:
...             wordcount[word] = 1
...
>>> print wordcount
{‘python’:64, ‘monty’:2, ‘a’:666, ...
It’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission