def overwrite_combine_dicts(a: dict, b: dict) ->dict:
    """Helper function that merges two dictionaries into a single dictionary by possibly overwriting
    values.

    :param a: First input dictionary.
    :param b: Second input dictionary. Overwrites entries in the first dictionary with the same key.
    :returns: The resulting combined dictionary.
    """
    if len(b) == 0:
        return a
    if len(a) == 0:
        return b
    a.update(b)
    return a
