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Intermediate - List Comprehensions

last updated 3 years ago by gerard #

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Functional Programming Tools

There are three built-in functions that are very useful with sequences: filter(), map(), and reduce().

filter(function, sequence) Returns a sequence consisting of those items from the sequence for which function(item) is true. If sequence is a string or tuple, the result will be of the same type; otherwise, it is always a list. For example, to compute some primes:

>>> def f(x): return x % 2 != 0 and x % 3 != 0
...
>>> filter(f, range(2, 25))
[5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23]

Remember that all functions are first class objects in Python and can be passed around just like other objects.

map(function, sequence) calls function(item) for each of the sequence's items and returns a list of the return values. For example, to compute some cubes:

>>> def cube(x): return x*x*x
...
>>> map(cube, range(1, 11))
[1, 8, 27, 64, 125, 216, 343, 512, 729, 1000]

More than one sequence may be passed; the function must then have as many arguments as there are sequences and is called with the corresponding item from each sequence (or None if some sequence is shorter than another). For example:

>>> seq = range(8)
>>> def add(x, y): return x+y
...
>>> map(add, seq, seq)
[0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14]

reduce(function, sequence) returns a single value constructed by calling the binary function function on the first two items of the sequence, then on the result and the next item, and so on. For example, to compute the sum of the numbers 1 through 10:

>>> def add(x,y): return x+y
...
>>> reduce(add, range(1, 11))
55

If there's only one item in the sequence, its value is returned; if the sequence is empty, an exception is raised.

A third argument can be passed to indicate the starting value. In this case the starting value is returned for an empty sequence, and the function is first applied to the starting value and the first sequence item, then to the result and the next item, and so on. For example:

>>> def product(seq):
...     def multiply(x,y): return x*y
...     return reduce(multiply, seq, 1)
... 
>>> product(range(1,5))
24

List Comprehensions

List comprehensions provide a concise way to create lists without resorting to use of map(), filter() and/or lambda. The resulting list definition tends often to be clearer than lists built using those constructs. Each list comprehension consists of an expression followed by a for clause, then zero or more for or if clauses. The result will be a list resulting from evaluating the expression in the context of the for and if clauses which follow it. If the expression would evaluate to a tuple, it must be parenthesized.

>>> freshfruit = ['  banana', '  loganberry ', 'passion fruit ']
>>> [fruit.strip() for fruit in freshfruit]   # strip() removes leading and trailing whitespace from strings
['banana', 'loganberry', 'passion fruit']
>>> vec = [2, 4, 6]
>>> [3*x for x in vec]
[6, 12, 18]
>>> [3*x for x in vec if x > 3]
[12, 18]
>>> [3*x for x in vec if x < 2]
[]
>>> [[x,x**2] for x in vec]
[[2, 4], [4, 16], [6, 36\]]
>>> [x, x**2 for x in vec]     # error - parens required for tuples

  File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
    [x, x**2 for x in vec]
               ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
>>> [(x, x**2) for x in vec]
[(2, 4), (4, 16), (6, 36)]
>>> vec1 = [2, 4, 6]
>>> vec2 = [4, 3, -9]
>>> [x*y for x in vec1 for y in vec2]
[8, 6, -18, 16, 12, -36, 24, 18, -54]
>>> [x+y for x in vec1 for y in vec2]
[6, 5, -7, 8, 7, -5, 10, 9, -3]
>>> [vec1[i]*vec2[i] for i in range(len(vec1))]
[8, 12, -54]

List comprehensions are much more flexible than map() and can be applied to complex expressions and nested functions:

>>> [str(round(355/113.0, i)) for i in range(1,6)]
['3.1', '3.14', '3.142', '3.1416', '3.14159']