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Python Code Samples

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

6 matches
Algorithms & data structures medium

Container With Most Water: Two-Pointer Solution in Python

Find the maximum water a container can hold from a list of heights using an efficient two-pointer technique in O(n) time.

two-pointer array algorithm
Python
from typing import List

def max_water_container(heights: List[int]) -> int:
    left, right = 0, len(heights) - 1
    max_area = 0
    
    while left < right:
        width = right - left
        height = min(heights[left], heights[right])
        area = width * height
        max_area = max(max_area, area)
        …
16 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures medium

How to Find the n Smallest Items in a Large List with heapq in Python

This code demonstrates how to efficiently extract the n smallest items from a large list using Python's heapq module and a manual max-heap approach.

heapq heaps large data
Python
import heapq

def n_smallest_iterable(data, n):
    """Return the n smallest items without loading the whole list."""
    if n <= 0:
        return []
    return heapq.nsmallest(n, data)

def n_smallest_manual(data, n):
    """Return the n smallest using a heap, O(n log k) time."""
    if n <= 0:
        return []
   …
13 0 Open
Concurrency & performance medium

How to Implement a Batch Requests Flush Interval in Python

A simple async batcher that accumulates items and flushes them either when a max batch size is reached or after a time-based flush interval.

asyncio batching concurrency
Python
import asyncio
from collections import deque

class Batcher:
    def __init__(self, flush_interval=0.5, max_batch=5):
        self.flush_interval = flush_interval
        self.max_batch = max_batch
        self.queue = deque()
        self.lock = asyncio.Lock()

    async def add(self, item):
        async with self.l…
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement a Sliding Window Log Rate Limiter in Python

Implements a sliding window log rate limiter in Python using a deque of timestamps to enforce a maximum request count within a rolling time window.

rate-limiting sliding-window deque
Python
from collections import deque
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from time import sleep


class SlidingWindowLog:
    def __init__(self, window_seconds: int, max_requests: int):
        self.window_seconds = window_seconds
        self.max_requests = max_requests
        self.timestamps = deque()

    def allow_…
15 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to implement a rate-limited shared counter in Python

Implements a thread-safe global counter that allows a maximum number of increments per second using a lock and time-based refill.

rate-limiting threading global-counter
Python
import threading
import time
import random

counter = 0
lock = threading.Lock()
MAX_CALLS_PER_SECOND = 3
last_refill = time.time()

def rate_limited_increment():
    global counter, last_refill
    with lock:
        now = time.time()
        if now - last_refill >= 1.0:
            last_refill = now
            count…
12 0 Open
A/B testing & experimentation medium

UCB1 Bandit Algorithm in Python

This code implements the UCB1 multi-armed bandit algorithm, balancing exploration and exploitation to identify the best arm while maximizing cumulative reward.

ucb1 bandit ab-testing
Python
import math
import random


def ucb1(means, n_iterations=1000, exploration_weight=2.0):
    """Run UCB1 bandit algorithm on arms with given true means."""
    n_arms = len(means)
    counts = [0] * n_arms
    rewards = [0.0] * n_arms
    
    for t in range(1, n_iterations + 1):
        # UCB1 selection
        if t <…
14 0 Open

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