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Python Code Samples

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

10 matches
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Recursively Remove None Values from Nested Dictionaries in Python

Recursively removes all None values from nested dictionaries and lists while preserving non-None data.

dictionaries recursion data-cleaning
Python
def prune_none(obj):
    if isinstance(obj, dict):
        return {
            k: prune_none(v)
            for k, v in obj.items()
            if v is not None and prune_none(v) is not None
        }
    elif isinstance(obj, list):
        pruned = [prune_none(item) for item in obj]
        pruned = [item for item i…
15 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

Traverse Nested Dict Paths Depth-First in Python

Recursively walk a nested dictionary depth-first and yield each full path from root to leaf as lists.

recursion generators nested-dicts
Python
def depth_first_paths(node, path=None):
    if path is None:
        path = []
    
    if not isinstance(node, dict):
        yield path + [node]
        return
    
    for key, value in node.items():
        new_path = path + [key]
        if isinstance(value, dict):
            yield from depth_first_paths(value, …
13 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures medium

How to Evaluate RPN Expressions in Python

Use a stack to evaluate Reverse Polish Notation token lists with a dictionary of operator lambdas, truncating division toward zero.

rpn stack expression
Python
def eval_rpn(tokens):
    stack = []
    ops = {
        '+': lambda a, b: a + b,
        '-': lambda a, b: a - b,
        '*': lambda a, b: a * b,
        '/': lambda a, b: int(a / b)  # truncate toward zero
    }
    for token in tokens:
        if token in ops:
            b = stack.pop()
            a = stack.pop(…
12 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures medium

How to Find Intersection of Two Sorted Interval Lists in Python

A two-pointer algorithm that finds all overlapping intervals between two sorted lists of intervals.

intervals two-pointers algorithm
Python
def interval_intersection(list1, list2):
    i = j = 0
    result = []
    
    while i < len(list1) and j < len(list2):
        # Find the overlap between current intervals
        lo = max(list1[i][0], list2[j][0])
        hi = min(list1[i][1], list2[j][1])
        
        # If there's an overlap, add it to result
…
13 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures medium

Merge k sorted lists in Python using a heap

Merge k individually sorted lists into one sorted list in Python using a min-heap.

heapq merge sorted-list
Python
import heapq

def merge_k_sorted_lists(lists):
    heap = []
    # Push the first element of each list onto the heap
    for i, lst in enumerate(lists):
        if lst:
            heapq.heappush(heap, (lst[0], i, 0))
    
    result = []
    while heap:
        val, list_idx, elem_idx = heapq.heappop(heap)
        re…
15 0 Open
Concurrency & performance medium

Merge K Sorted Lists in Python with heapq

Merge k sorted lists into one sorted list in O(N log k) time using a min-heap of current elements.

heapq merge sorted-lists
Python
import heapq

def merge_k_sorted_lists(lists):
    heap = []
    for i, lst in enumerate(lists):
        if lst:  # only push non-empty lists
            heapq.heappush(heap, (lst[0], i, 0))
    result = []
    while heap:
        val, list_idx, elem_idx = heapq.heappop(heap)
        result.append(val)
        if elem…
13 0 Open
Testing & modern typing medium

How to Flag Unexpected Diff Changes in Python

Compares two snapshot lists, detects unexpected differences, and returns a flag indicating whether the snapshot should be updated.

diffing snapshot-testing difflib
Python
import difflib

def snapshot_diff(before, after, intentional_changes=None):
    """Compare snapshots and flag only unexpected differences."""
    intentional_changes = intentional_changes or set()
    diff = list(difflib.unified_diff(before, after, lineterm=""))
    has_unexpected = False

    for line in diff:
      …
16 0 Open
Testing & modern typing medium

How to Use Hypothesis Strategies for Lists of Text in Python

Generate random lists of non-empty strings with Hypothesis and verify that joining them with a comma-and-space separator meets expected length and containment invariants.

hypothesis property-based-testing strategies
Python
from hypothesis import given, strategies as st
from hypothesis import example


@given(st.lists(st.text(min_size=1, max_size=10), min_size=1, max_size=5))
def test_joined_string_length(items):
    """Each text is non-empty; a joined string should be at least as long
    as the number of items (separator adds character…
13 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement a Token Bucket Rate Limiter per Client IP in Python

Implements a simple sliding-window rate limiter using a dictionary of timestamp lists per client IP to limit requests per window.

rate-limiting sliding-window ip
Python
from time import time
from collections import defaultdict

class RateLimiter:
    def __init__(self, max_requests: int, window_seconds: int):
        self.max_requests = max_requests
        self.window_seconds = window_seconds
        self.clients = defaultdict(list)

    def allow(self, ip: str) -> bool:
        now…
13 0 Open
Auth & security at scale medium

How to Mock a CORS Allow Origin Whitelist in Python

A decorator-based mock of a CORS middleware that whitelists allowed origins and injects proper Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers while rejecting others.

cors security middleware
Python
from functools import wraps


class MockCORSConfig:
    def __init__(self, allowed_origins):
        self.allowed_origins = allowed_origins

    def is_origin_allowed(self, origin):
        return origin in self.allowed_origins


def cors_middleware(config):
    def decorator(handler):
        @wraps(handler)
        …
16 0 Open

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