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How to Group Data by Category in Python
Group a list of (category, value) tuples into a dictionary of lists using the setdefault method.
def group_by_category(data):
"""Group list of (category, value) tuples into dictionaries of lists."""
groups = {}
for category, value in data:
groups.setdefault(category, []).append(value)
return groups
if __name__ == "__main__":
items = [
("fruit", "apple"),
("veg", "carro…How to Partition a String on the First Delimiter in Python
Split a string into a tuple of (before, delimiter, after) at the first occurrence of a given delimiter, using a custom function or the built-in str.partition.
def partition_string(s, delimiter):
"""Split string into (before, delimiter, after) on the first occurrence."""
for i, ch in enumerate(s):
if ch == delimiter:
return s[:i], ch, s[i+1:]
return s, "", ""
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Single-character delimiter
s1 = "hello,world,h…Format Lists of Tuples into Numbered Lines in Python
This code loops through a list of (name, grade) tuples and formats each into a numbered line using enumerate and f-strings.
def format_students(students):
formatted = []
for i, student in enumerate(students, start=1):
name, grade = student
formatted.append(f"{i}. {name}: {grade}")
return "\n".join(formatted)
if __name__ == "__main__":
students = [
("Alice", 92),
("Bob", 85),
("Charl…How to Sort a List of Tuples by the Second Element in Python
Sorts a list of tuples by the second element using the sorted() function with a lambda key, preserving the original list.
def sort_tuples_by_second(tuples_list):
"""Sort a list of tuples by the second element."""
return sorted(tuples_list, key=lambda x: x[1])
if __name__ == "__main__":
data = [(1, 5), (3, 2), (2, 8), (4, 1)]
sorted_data = sort_tuples_by_second(data)
print("Original list:", data)
print("Sorted by…How to Validate Text Against Forbidden Words in Python
Checks whether a given text contains any forbidden words and returns a tuple with validity and offending words.
def validate_text(text, forbidden_words):
"""
Checks that text does not contain any forbidden words.
Returns (is_valid, offending_words) tuple.
"""
words = text.lower().split()
found = [word for word in words if word in forbidden_words]
return len(found) == 0, found
if __name__ == "__main…How to Zip Two Lists into Pairs in Python
Combine two lists element-wise into a list of tuples using Python's built-in zip() function.
def zip_lists_into_pairs(list1, list2):
pairs = list(zip(list1, list2))
return pairs
if __name__ == "__main__":
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
quantities = [3, 5, 2]
result = zip_lists_into_pairs(fruits, quantities)
print(result)How to unzip a list of pairs into two lists in Python
Split a list of (a, b) tuples into two separate lists by iterating with a for loop and appending each element to its own output list.
def unzip(pairs):
"""Split a list of (a, b) pairs into two separate lists."""
if not pairs:
return [], []
firsts = []
seconds = []
for a, b in pairs:
firsts.append(a)
seconds.append(b)
return firsts, seconds
if __name__ == "__main__":
pairs = [(1, 'a'), (…How to Return Multiple Values from a Python Function
This code demonstrates how a Python function can return multiple values as a tuple, and how to unpack that tuple into individual variables.
def get_user_stats(name, score, level):
"""Return multiple values as a tuple."""
return name, score, level
if __name__ == "__main__":
result = get_user_stats("Alice", 95, 3)
print(result)
print(type(result))
# Unpacking into individual variables
player_name, player_score, player_level…How to Use a Lambda Sort Key in Python
Sort a list of strings by length, then alphabetically, using a lambda function as the sorting key in Python.
def sort_words(words):
"""Sort words by length, then alphabetically using a lambda key."""
return sorted(words, key=lambda word: (len(word), word))
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample_words = ["apple", "kiwi", "banana", "fig", "cherry"]
result = sort_words(sample_words)
print("Original:", sampl…How to Return Success or Error as a Tuple in Python (Result Type Pattern)
Use a (bool, value) tuple as a lightweight Result type to return either a successful result or a descriptive error message from a Python function.
def divide(dividend: float, divisor: float) -> tuple[bool, float | str]:
"""Return (True, result) on success, (False, error_message) on failure."""
if divisor == 0:
return False, "Error: Division by zero"
return True, dividend / divisor
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Success case
success, r…How to Use try except ValueError in Python to Parse Numbers
Convert strings to integers safely with try/except ValueError and TypeError, returning a value-or-error tuple.
def parse_number(text):
"""Safely convert a string to an integer, handling errors gracefully."""
try:
value = int(text)
return value, None
except ValueError as error:
return None, f"Conversion failed: {error}"
except TypeError as error:
return None, f"Wrong type provided…Convert namedtuple to dict with asdict in Python
Convert a namedtuple instance into an ordinary dictionary using the asdict function from the collections module's namedtuple utility.
from collections import namedtuple, asdict
def main():
# Define a namedtuple for a person
Person = namedtuple("Person", ["name", "age", "city"])
person = Person(name="Alice", age=30, city="New York")
# Convert namedtuple to dict
person_dict = asdict(person)
print("Original namedtuple…How to Use NamedTuples for Lightweight Records in Python
Create lightweight, immutable data records with namedtuple that behave like tuples but have named fields for improved readability and access.
from collections import namedtuple
Point = namedtuple("Point", ["x", "y"])
p = Point(3, 4)
print(p)
print(p.x, p.y)
print(p[0], p[1])
x, y = p
print(x, y)
print(p._asdict())
p2 = p._replace(x=10)
print(p2)
if __name__ == "__main__":
print("NamedTuple demo complete")Find k Closest Points to Origin in Python
Sorts a list of (x, y) point tuples by their Euclidean distance from the origin and returns the k nearest points.
import math
def k_closest(points, k):
points.sort(key=lambda p: math.sqrt(p[0]**2 + p[1]**2))
return points[:k]
if __name__ == "__main__":
points = [(1, 2), (3, 4), (-1, 0), (5, 5), (0, 1)]
k = 3
result = k_closest(points, k)
print(f"Original points: {points}")
print(f"K closest points (k…Pair Elements with Next Cyclic Neighbor in Python
Create tuples pairing every element with its next element, wrapping around to the first element for the last one.
def cyclic_pairs(lst):
if not lst:
return []
return [(lst[i], lst[(i + 1) % len(lst)]) for i in range(len(lst))]
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
result = cyclic_pairs(sample)
print(result)Sort list by multiple keys with tuple ordering in Python
Sort a list of dictionaries by multiple criteria — surname, age, then score descending — using a tuple key and negation.
def sort_multi_key(data):
# Sorts by surname, then age, then score descending
return sorted(
data,
key=lambda person: (
person['surname'].lower(),
person['age'],
-person['score'] # negative to reverse sort by score
)
)
if __name__ == "__main__"…How to Sort Data with Comprehensions and Generators in Python
Sort a list of tuples by a key, then use a list comprehension to extract names and a generator to square high ranks.
data = [("Anna", 3), ("Ben", 1), ("Clara", 2), ("Dan", 5), ("Eve", 4)]
# Comprehension: list of tuples (name, rank) sorted ascending by rank
sorted_by_rank = sorted(data, key=lambda x: x[1])
# Comprehension: extract just the names in rank order
names_in_rank_order = [name for name, rank in sorted_by_rank]
# Generat…How to Use starmap() to Unpack Tuple Arguments in Python
Use itertools.starmap to apply a function to each tuple in an iterable, unpacking tuple elements as separate arguments and returning an iterator of results.
from itertools import starmap
def multiply(a, b):
return a * b
if __name__ == "__main__":
pairs = [(2, 3), (4, 5), (6, 7), (8, 9)]
results = list(starmap(multiply, pairs))
print(results)NamedTuple typed record in Python
Define a lightweight immutable record with type hints using typing.NamedTuple; access fields by name and unpack like a tuple.
from typing import NamedTuple
class Point(NamedTuple):
x: float
y: float
label: str = "origin"
if __name__ == "__main__":
p = Point(3.5, -2.0, "A")
print(p)
print(f"x={p.x}, y={p.y}, label={p.label}")
print("is tuple:", isinstance(p, tuple))
q = Point(1.0, 1.0)
print(q)
# …Table-Driven Tests in Python (unittest)
Run a single unittest test against many input cases using a list of tuples and subTest.
import unittest
def add(a, b):
return a + b
class TestAddFunction(unittest.TestCase):
def test_add_with_table(self):
cases = [
(1, 2, 3),
(-1, 1, 0),
(0, 0, 0),
(2, -3, -1),
]
for x, y, expected in cases:
with self.subTest(x…How to Retry on Specific Exception Tuples in Python
A decorator-based retry pattern that retries a function only when it raises exceptions specified in a tuple, with configurable retries and delay.
import time
import random
from unittest.mock import patch
def retry_on_exceptions(retries=3, exceptions=(ValueError,), delay=0.1):
def decorator(func):
def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
for attempt in range(retries):
try:
return func(*args, **kwargs)
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