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Python Code Samples

Easy snippets you can copy, study, and run in the browser editor.

249 matches
Errors & debugging easy

Retry an Operation on ConnectionError in Python

Retries an unreliable operation a fixed number of times when it raises a transient ConnectionError, with a small delay between attempts.

retry connection-error error-handling
Python
import time
import random


def unreliable_operation():
    """Simulates an operation that throws ConnectionError occasionally."""
    if random.random() < 0.6:
        raise ConnectionError("Transient network failure")
    return "Operation succeeded"


def retry_operation(attempts=4, delay=0.2):
    """Retries the o…
15 0 Open
Errors & debugging easy

Try Except ValueError in Python: Handle Conversion Errors

Catch ValueError exceptions when converting strings to integers or performing arithmetic, returning None on failure instead of crashing.

try-except valueerror exception
Python
def convert_to_int(value):
    try:
        return int(value)
    except ValueError as error:
        print(f"Conversion failed: {error}")
        print(f"Problem value was: {repr(value)}")
        return None


def divide_numbers(numerator, denominator):
    try:
        result = numerator / denominator
        retur…
14 0 Open
Files & data easy

Generate Timesheet Reports from Daily Logs in Python

Aggregate daily log entries by project and produce a formatted timesheet report using Python's standard library.

timesheet reporting aggregation
Python
import json
from pathlib import Path
from collections import defaultdict

def generate_timesheet_report(daily_logs: list[dict]) -> str:
    """
    Generate a timesheet report from daily log entries.
    
    Args:
        daily_logs: List of dicts with 'date', 'project', 'hours', 'task' keys
    
    Returns:
       …
46 0 Open
Files & data easy

How to Filter Files by Extension and Size in Python

Use pathlib to list files in a directory, filter by extension or minimum size, and return matching names or (name, size) pairs.

pathlib filesystem filtering
Python
from pathlib import Path

def filter_files_by_extension(directory: str, extension: str) -> list:
    """Return a list of file names in directory with the given extension."""
    path = Path(directory)
    return [f.name for f in path.iterdir() if f.is_file() and f.suffix == extension]

def filter_files_by_size(directo…
13 0 Open
Files & data easy

How to Merge Dicts from Two JSON Files Like a Pro

This helper reads two JSON files that contain dicts, merges them with the second file overriding duplicate keys, and saves the result to a new file.

json dict merge
Python
import json
from pathlib import Path


def merge_json_files(file1: str, file2: str, output: str = "merged.json") -> dict:
    """Merge two JSON files containing dicts, with file2 overriding file1."""
    data1 = json.loads(Path(file1).read_text())
    data2 = json.loads(Path(file2).read_text())

    merged = {**data1,…
13 0 Open
Files & data easy

How to Read a File with Retry on Temporary IOError in Python

Read a file with automatic retries on temporary IOError/OSError failures, using the pathlib module with configurable attempts and delay.

file-io retry error-handling
Python
import time
from pathlib import Path

def read_file_with_retry(filepath: str | Path, max_attempts: int = 3, delay: float = 0.5) -> str:
    """Read a file with retries on temporary IO errors."""
    path = Path(filepath)
    last_error = None

    for attempt in range(max_attempts):
        try:
            return pat…
14 0 Open
Files & data easy

How to Validate JSON Schema Shape in Python

Validate JSON data against a schema using manual checks for required fields, types, and constraints.

json validation schema
Python
import json
from typing import Any, Dict

def validate_person_schema(data: Dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
    """Validate a person object against expected schema shape."""
    if not isinstance(data, dict):
        return False
    
    # Required fields check
    required_fields = {"name", "age", "email"}
    if not requir…
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

Check Invertible Mapping for Duplicate Values in Python

Detect duplicate values among (key, value) pairs to ensure the mapping is invertible, using a dictionary for O(1) lookups.

dictionary mapping duplicate-check
Python
def invertible_after_dedup(pairs):
    """
    Check whether a set of (key, value) pairs is invertible,
    i.e., no duplicate values exist for different keys.
    """
    seen = {}
    for key, value in pairs:
        if value in seen and seen[value] != key:
            return False, f"Duplicate value '{value}' for k…
18 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

Convert Lists and Dictionaries to Sets in Python

Convert lists of pairs into dictionaries and lists or dictionaries into sets using simple helper functions.

dict set conversion
Python
def convert_to_dict(data):
    """Convert list of tuples or lists into a dictionary."""
    return dict(data)


def convert_to_set(data):
    """Convert list or dictionary into a set of its keys/values."""
    if isinstance(data, dict):
        return set(data.keys())
    return set(data)


def convert_collection(data…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

Count word frequency in Python with dict and Counter

Count how often each word appears in a string using Counter, converted to a plain dict, and print results alphabetically.

counter dictionary word-frequency
Python
from collections import Counter
import re

def count_word_frequency(text):
    words = re.findall(r'\b\w+\b', text.lower())
    return dict(Counter(words))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    sample_text = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The dog barks, and the fox runs."
    frequency = count_word_frequency(…
12 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

Filter Dictionary Keys by Prefix in Python

Use a dict comprehension to build a new dictionary containing only keys that start with a given prefix.

dict-comprehension filtering dictionaries
Python
def filter_dict_keys(data, prefix="temp_"):
    """
    Filter a dictionary by keeping only keys that start with a given prefix.
    Uses a dict comprehension to build a new dictionary.
    """
    if not isinstance(data, dict):
        raise ValueError("data must be a dictionary")
    return {key: value for key, valu…
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Check if a Set is a Subset in Python

Check whether one set contains all elements of another set using the issubset method.

set subset membership
Python
def is_subset(allowed_set, check_set):
    """
    Check if check_set is a subset of allowed_set.
    Returns True if all elements of check_set are in allowed_set, otherwise False.
    """
    return check_set.issubset(allowed_set)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example usage
    allowed = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
    valid…
17 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Convert a Counter to a Plain Dict with Sorted Items in Python

This code converts a collections.Counter into a regular dictionary with items sorted by key, useful for stable, readable output.

counter dict sorting
Python
from collections import Counter

def counter_to_sorted_dict(counter):
    """Convert a Counter to a plain dict with sorted items."""
    return dict(sorted(counter.items()))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example usage
    data = Counter(['apple', 'banana', 'apple', 'cherry', 'banana', 'date', 'apple'])
    print("…
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Count Co-occurrence Pairs in Python with Nested Dictionaries

This code counts how often any two items appear together in the same group, using a nested defaultdict keyed by item pairs.

dictionaries co-occurrence counter
Python
from itertools import combinations
from collections import defaultdict

def count_cooccurrences(items_per_group):
    cooccurrence = defaultdict(lambda: defaultdict(int))
    for group in items_per_group:
        for a, b in combinations(sorted(group), 2):
            cooccurrence[a][b] += 1
            cooccurrence[b…
12 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Create a Dict from Two Parallel Lists in Python (zip)

Build a dictionary by pairing elements from two parallel lists using Python's built-in zip function and dict constructor.

dictionary zip lists
Python
keys = ["name", "age", "city"]
values = ["Alice", 30, "New York"]

result = dict(zip(keys, values))
print(result)
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Filter a Dictionary by Predicate on Values in Python

This code defines a reusable function that builds a new dictionary containing only the items whose values satisfy a given predicate function.

dictionary filtering lambda
Python
def filter_dict_by_predicate(d, predicate):
    """Return a new dict with only items whose value passes the predicate."""
    return {k: v for k, v in d.items() if predicate(v)}


if __name__ == "__main__":
    scores = {"Alice": 85, "Bob": 42, "Charlie": 91, "Diana": 60}
    # Keep only values greater than or equal t…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Find Keys with Matching Values in Two Dictionaries in Python

Find dictionary keys where both dictionaries have the exact same value by iterating over key-value pairs and comparing them.

dictionaries comparison data-matching
Python
def find_matching_values(dict1, dict2):
    """Return list of keys that have the same value in both dicts."""
    matches = []
    for key, value in dict1.items():
        if key in dict2 and dict2[key] == value:
            matches.append(key)
    return matches


if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Example usage
    di…
13 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Find the Intersection of Permission Sets in Python

This code defines a function that takes a list of permission sets and returns a set containing only the permissions common to all sets, with a short-circuit for empty results.

sets intersection permissions
Python
from typing import Set

def intersect_permissions(permission_sets: list[Set[str]]) -> Set[str]:
    """
    Given a list of permission sets, return the common permissions
    present in every set.
    """
    if not permission_sets:
        return set()
    
    common = permission_sets[0]
    for perm_set in permissi…
12 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Group Data by Category in Python with a Split Data Helper

This code groups a list of (category, item) pairs into a dictionary where each key is a category and each value is a list of items belonging to that category.

dictionary grouping iterable
Python
def split_data(categories):
    """
    Group data items into buckets based on a key function.
    Returns a dict where keys are bucket names and values are lists of items.
    """
    buckets = {}
    for category, item in categories:
        if category not in buckets:
            buckets[category] = []
        buck…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Use ChainMap for Layered Config Lookup in Python

This code demonstrates using collections.ChainMap to combine multiple dictionaries into a single layered lookup, where earlier maps override later ones.

chainmap configuration collections
Python
from collections import ChainMap

defaults = {"theme": "light", "lang": "en", "debug": False}
user = {"lang": "de", "auto_save": True}
runtime = {"debug": True}

config = ChainMap(runtime, user, defaults)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("theme:", config["theme"])
    print("lang:", config["lang"])
    print("deb…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Use defaultdict(set) in Python to Group Unique Values

Group key-value pairs into a dictionary of sets, automatically creating a new set for each key using defaultdict.

defaultdict sets dictionaries
Python
from collections import defaultdict

def track_groups(pairs):
    groups = defaultdict(set)
    for key, value in pairs:
        groups[key].add(value)
    return groups

if __name__ == "__main__":
    data = [
        ("fruit", "apple"),
        ("fruit", "banana"),
        ("fruit", "apple"),
        ("veg", "carrot…
15 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Validate JSON Types per Key in Python

Load a JSON object and validate the type of each key against an expected schema, reporting missing or mismatched fields.

json validation types
Python
import json
from typing import Any, Dict, Type

def validate_json_types(data: Dict[str, Any], schema: Dict[str, Type]) -> Dict[str, str]:
    """Validate that each key in data matches the expected type in schema."""
    errors = {}
    for key, expected_type in schema.items():
        if key not in data:
            e…
16 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to Validate Required Dict Keys in Python

Check whether a dictionary contains all required keys and return the list of missing ones using a simple list comprehension.

dictionary validation missing-keys
Python
def find_missing_keys(data: dict, required_keys: list) -> list:
    """Return a list of required keys that are missing from the dictionary."""
    return [key for key in required_keys if key not in data]


if __name__ == "__main__":
    user_data = {
        "name": "Alice",
        "email": "alice@example.com",
     …
12 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets easy

How to swap dict keys and values in Python when values are unique

Swap dict keys and values using a dict comprehension, with a guard that raises an error when values repeat.

dictionary comprehension keys-values
Python
def swap_dict_keys_values(d):
    """Swap keys and values in a dict, assuming values are unique."""
    if len(set(d.values())) != len(d.values()):
        raise ValueError("Values must be unique to swap keys and values")
    return {v: k for k, v in d.items()}

if __name__ == "__main__":
    original = {"a": 1, "b": …
14 0 Open

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How to use this library

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  2. Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
  3. Run it in the IDE, tweak values, then take a related quiz or tutorial lesson

Samples vs tutorials and challenges

Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.