Try catch vs. if else

word_count_comparison.py

from timeit import default_timer as time


# Open text file and add each word to a list
with open('file.txt') as f:
    lines = [line.strip() for line in f]
    words = []
    for l in lines:
        words.extend(l.split())


# Time if/else pattern
start = time()
word_count = {}
for word in words:
    if word in word_count:
        word_count[word] += 1
    else:
        word_count[word] = 1
end = time()
duration = end - start
# Print out results
print("if/else")
print('{:.10f} sec'.format(duration))
print('--')


# Clean-up variables for next count
del word_count, start, end, duration


# Time try / except pattern
start = time()
word_count = {}
for word in words:
    try:
        word_count[word] += 1
    except KeyError:
        word_count[word] = 1
end = time()
duration = end - start
print("try/except")
print('{:.10f} sec'.format(duration))
print('--')


print(f"Total words: {len(words)}")
print(f'Unique words: { len(word_count) }')
ratio =  len(word_count) / len(words)
print('Ratio: {:.2f}'.format(ratio))