Question

How can I change the way a dictionary works, so that if there is no KVP with given key, it returns a default value, without wrapping usual dic["nonexistentKey"] with try-catch?

Answer 1

You could make your own class which encapsulates a Dictionary<TKey,TValue>, and implements IDictionary<TKey,TValue>.

This will behave like a dictionary, but you can write the behavior to handle your non-existent key any way you wish.

However, you can’t change the way the actual Dictionary<TKey,TValue> class functions.