Some Python tricks for you

5 examples on how to improve your Python code

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Catchy title apart here some little suggestions that can help you write more efficient and readable Python code:

1. Using List Comprehensions

List comprehensions are a concise way to create lists in Python. Instead of using a for loop to create a list, you can use a single line of code. For example, instead of writing:

squares = []

for x in range(10):
    squares.append(x**2)

print(squares)

You can use a list comprehension like this:

squares = [x**2 for x in range(10)]

print(squares)

List comprehensions examples execution

2. Using Generators

Generators are a type of iterator that allow you to iterate over a sequence of values without creating the entire sequence in memory at once. This can be useful when working with large datasets. Here is an example of using a generator to iterate over a file:

with open('example.txt') as f:
    for line in (line.strip() for line in f):
        print(line)

example.txt

Generators example execution

3. Using the zip() function

The zip() function in Python allows you to combine two or more lists into a single list of tuples. For example, you can use zip() to combine two lists of names and ages:

names = ['Pippo', 'Pluto', 'Paperino']
ages = [25, 30, 35]

for name, age in zip(names, ages):
    print(f'{name} is {age} years old')

zip() function example execution

4. Using DefaultDict

The defaultdict class in the collections module is a useful tool for working with dictionaries. It allows you to define a default value for a key that does not exist in the dictionary. For example, you can use defaultdict to count the occurrences of each letter in a string:

from collections import defaultdict

s = 'hello world'

d = defaultdict(int)
for c in s:
    d[c] += 1

print(d)

DefaultDict example execution

5. Using enumerate()

The enumerate() function in Python allows you to iterate over a sequence and keep track of the index of each element. This can be useful when you need to access both the index and the value of each element in a sequence. Here is an example of using enumerate() to print the index and value of each item in a list:

fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']

for i, fruit in enumerate(fruits):
    print(f'{i}: {fruit}')

enumerate() example execution

These are just a few examples that can help you write more concise, readable and efficient code.

Outro

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