When to Use a List Comprehension in Python

Reader
January 22, 2024
When to Use a List Comprehension in Python
by:
blow post content copied from  Real Python
click here to view original post

One of Python’s most distinctive features is the list comprehension, which you can use to create powerful functionality within a single line of code. However, many developers struggle to fully leverage the more advanced features of list comprehensions in Python. Some programmers even use them too much, which can lead to code that’s less efficient and harder to read.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand the full power of Python list comprehensions and know how to use their features comfortably. You’ll also gain an understanding of the trade-offs that come with using them so that you can determine when other approaches are preferable.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to:

  • Rewrite loops and map() calls as list comprehensions in Python
  • Choose between comprehensions, loops, and map() calls
  • Supercharge your comprehensions with conditional logic
  • Use comprehensions to replace filter()
  • Profile your code to resolve performance questions

Transforming Lists in Python

There are a few different ways to create and add items to a lists in Python. In this section, you’ll explore for loops and the map() function to perform these tasks. Then, you’ll move on to learn about how to use list comprehensions and when list comprehensions can benefit your Python program.

Use for Loops

The most common type of loop is the for loop. You can use a for loop to create a list of elements in three steps:

  1. Instantiate an empty list.
  2. Loop over an iterable or range of elements.
  3. Append each element to the end of the list.

If you want to create a list containing the first ten perfect squares, then you can complete these steps in three lines of code:

Python 
>>> squares = []
>>> for number in range(10):
...     squares.append(number * number)
...
>>> squares
[0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]

Here, you instantiate an empty list, squares. Then, you use a for loop to iterate over range(10). Finally, you multiply each number by itself and append the result to the end of the list.

Work With map Objects

For an alternative approach that’s based in functional programming, you can use map(). You pass in a function and an iterable, and map() will create an object. This object contains the result that you’d get from running each iterable element through the supplied function.

As an example, consider a situation in which you need to calculate the price after tax for a list of transactions:

Python 
>>> prices = [1.09, 23.56, 57.84, 4.56, 6.78]
>>> TAX_RATE = .08
>>> def get_price_with_tax(price):
...     return price * (1 + TAX_RATE)
...

>>> final_prices = map(get_price_with_tax, prices)
>>> final_prices
<map object at 0x7f34da341f90>

>>> list(final_prices)
[1.1772000000000002, 25.4448, 62.467200000000005, 4.9248, 7.322400000000001]

Here, you have an iterable, prices, and a function, get_price_with_tax(). You pass both of these arguments to map() and store the resulting map object in final_prices. Finally, you convert final_prices into a list using list().

Leverage List Comprehensions

List comprehensions are a third way of making or transforming lists. With this elegant approach, you could rewrite the for loop from the first example in just a single line of code:

Python 
>>> squares = [number * number for number in range(10)]
>>> squares
[0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]

Rather than creating an empty list and adding each element to the end, you simply define the list and its contents at the same time by following this format:

new_list = [expression for member in iterable]

Every list comprehension in Python includes three elements:

  1. expression is the member itself, a call to a method, or any other valid expression that returns a value. In the example above, the expression number * number is the square of the member value.
  2. member is the object or value in the list or iterable. In the example above, the member value is number.
  3. iterable is a list, set, sequence, generator, or any other object that can return its elements one at a time. In the example above, the iterable is range(10).

Read the full article at https://realpython.com/list-comprehension-python/ »

[ Improve Your Python With 🐍 Python Tricks 💌 – Get a short & sweet Python Trick delivered to your inbox every couple of days. >> Click here to learn more and see examples ]


January 22, 2024 at 07:30PM
Click here for more details...

=============================
The original post is available in Real Python by
this post has been published as it is through automation. Automation script brings all the top bloggers post under a single umbrella.
The purpose of this blog, Follow the top Salesforce bloggers and collect all blogs in a single place through automation.
============================

Salesforce