code: def _diff(state_data, resource_object):
      '''helper method to compare salt state info with the PagerDuty API json structure,
      and determine if we need to update.
  
      returns the dict to pass to the PD API to perform the update, or empty dict if no update.
      '''
      objects_differ = None
  
      for k, v in state_data.items():
          if k == 'escalation_rules':
              v = _escalation_rules_to_string(v)
              resource_value = _escalation_rules_to_string(resource_object[k])
          else:
              if k not in resource_object.keys():
                  objects_differ = True
              else:
                  resource_value = resource_object[k]
          if v != resource_value:
              objects_differ = '{0} {1} {2}'.format(k, v, resource_value)
              break
  
      if objects_differ:
          return state_data
      else:
          return {f _diff(state_data, resource_object):
      '''helper method to compare salt state info with the PagerDuty API json structure,
      and determine if we need to update.
  
      returns the dict to pass to the PD API to perform the update, or empty dict if no update.
      '''
      objects_differ = None
  
      for k, v in state_data.items():
          if k == 'escalation_rules':
              v = _escalation_rules_to_string(v)
              resource_value = _escalation_rules_to_string(resource_object[k])
          else:
              if k not in resource_object.keys():
                  objects_differ = True
              else:
                  resource_value = resource_object[k]
          if v != resource_value:
              objects_differ = '{0} {1} {2}'.format(k, v, resource_value)
              break
  
      if objects_differ:
          return state_data
      else:
          return {}
docs: helper method to compare salt state info with the PagerDuty API json structure,
      and determine if we need to update.
  
      returns the dict to pass to the PD API to perform the update, or empty dict if no update.