counter with try exception style

try_except.py

__author__ = 'tim'

fruits = [
    'apple', 'pineapple',
    'apple', 'pineapple',
    'apple', 'pineapple',
]

counter = {}

for fruit in fruits:
    try:
        counter[fruit] += 1
    except KeyError:
        counter[fruit] = 1

print counter