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Python Code Samples

Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.

299 matches
Algorithms & data structures medium

Binary Search for Ship Capacity in Python

Use binary search to find the minimum ship capacity that can transport all packages within a given number of days.

binary search greedy capacity
Python
def ship_within_days(weights, days):
    def can_ship(capacity):
        current = 0
        needed_days = 1
        for weight in weights:
            if current + weight > capacity:
                needed_days += 1
                current = 0
            current += weight
        return needed_days <= days

    low …
14 0 Open
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 easy

Extract n largest elements from a large list using heapq

Uses heapq.nlargest to efficiently extract the top n largest numbers from a large list, even with millions of elements.

heapq heaps large-data
Python
import heapq
import random

def n_largest(numbers, n):
    """Return the n largest numbers from a list using heapq."""
    if n <= 0:
        return []
    return heapq.nlargest(n, numbers)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Create a large list with 1,000,000 random numbers
    large_list = [random.randint(1, 1_000_000…
14 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

How to Apply a Function to Sliding Window Slices in Python

This Python code applies a given function to every contiguous window of a specified size in a list, returning a list of results.

sliding-window list-comprehension algorithms
Python
def apply_to_sliding_windows(data, window_size, func):
    return [func(data[i:i + window_size]) for i in range(len(data) - window_size + 1)]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
    window_size = 3
    results = apply_to_sliding_windows(numbers, window_size, sum)
    print(results)
    results…
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
Algorithms & data structures easy

How to Generate Fibonacci Sequence in Python

Generate the first n Fibonacci numbers as a list using a simple iterative loop.

fibonacci sequences iteration
Python
def fibonacci(n):
    """Generate the first n terms of the Fibonacci sequence."""
    if n <= 0:
        return []
    seq = [0, 1]
    while len(seq) < n:
        seq.append(seq[-1] + seq[-2])
    return seq[:n]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    n = 10
    result = fibonacci(n)
    print(result)
13 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures medium

How to Generate a Power Set in Python with Bitmasks

Generate the power set of a small list using a bitmask approach, producing all possible subsets.

bitmask power set subset generation
Python
def power_set(items):
    """Generate the power set of a list using bitmask approach."""
    n = len(items)
    result = []
    
    for mask in range(1 << n):
        subset = []
        for i in range(n):
            if mask & (1 << i):
                subset.append(items[i])
        result.append(subset)
    
    r…
14 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

How to Get the Breadth-First Traversal Order of a Graph in Python

Performs a breadth-first search on an adjacency list and returns the order nodes are visited, using a deque for efficient queue operations.

graph bfs queue
Python
from collections import deque

def bfs_order(adjacency, start=0):
    """Return the order nodes are visited in a breadth-first traversal."""
    visited = set()
    order = []
    queue = deque([start])
    visited.add(start)

    while queue:
        node = queue.popleft()
        order.append(node)

        for neig…
14 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

How to Rotate an Array by k Steps in Python

This code rotates a list to the right by k positions using modulo arithmetic to handle k larger than the list length.

array rotation algorithms
Python
def rotate_array(nums, k):
    if not nums:
        return []
    n = len(nums)
    k = k % n
    return nums[-k:] + nums[:-k] if k else nums[:]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
    k = 2
    result = rotate_array(arr, k)
    print(f"Original: {arr}")
    print(f"Rotated by {k}: {result}")
13 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

How to partition a list into n nearly equal parts in Python

Divide a list into n contiguous chunks of nearly equal size using an average-length calculation that distributes the remainder evenly.

partitioning chunks slicing
Python
def partition(lst, n):
    """Partition a list into n nearly equal contiguous parts."""
    if n <= 0:
        raise ValueError("n must be positive")
    if not lst:
        return [[] for _ in range(n)]
    
    parts = []
    avg = len(lst) / n
    last_idx = 0.0
    
    while last_idx < len(lst):
        end_idx =…
14 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

Remove item at index without pop in Python

Remove an item at a given index from a list without using pop by slicing the list around the index.

list slicing algorithms
Python
def remove_at_index(lst, index):
    """Remove item at index and return the new list."""
    if index < 0 or index >= len(lst):
        raise IndexError("Index out of range")
    return lst[:index] + lst[index + 1:]


if __name__ == "__main__":
    items = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]
    result = remove_at_index(items, 2)
  …
12 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

Reorder a List by Odd Even Indices in Python

Splits a list into two sublists based on 1-based index parity, then concatenates odd-indexed elements before even-indexed ones.

list indices reorder
Python
def reorder_by_odd_even(items):
    """Reorders a list so that elements at odd indices come first,
    followed by elements at even indices (1-based).
    
    Example: [0,1,2,3,4,5,6] -> [1,3,5,0,2,4,6]
    """
    odds = [items[i] for i in range(1, len(items), 2)]
    evens = [items[i] for i in range(0, len(items), …
18 0 Open
Algorithms & data structures easy

Sort Unique Values by Frequency in Python

Count element frequencies with Counter and sort unique values by descending frequency, breaking ties alphabetically.

counter sorting frequency
Python
from collections import Counter

def sort_unique_by_frequency(values):
    counts = Counter(values)
    return sorted(counts.keys(), key=lambda x: (-counts[x], x))

if __name__ == "__main__":
    data = [4, 2, 2, 8, 3, 3, 1, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 1]
    result = sort_unique_by_frequency(data)
    print(f"Sorted unique values…
12 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

Generate Data with Python Comprehensions and Generators

Shows list, dict compregensions and generator expressions plus a Fibonacci generator to produce data lazily.

comprehensions generators lazy-evaluation
Python
# Data generation helpers using comprehensions and generators
from itertools import islice


def fibonacci(limit):
    """Generate Fibonacci numbers up to a limit."""
    a, b = 0, 1
    while a <= limit:
        yield a
        a, b = b, a + b


def main():
    # List comprehension: squares of even numbers
    square…
15 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

Generator Function to Yield an Infinite Counter in Python

This code demonstrates a generator function that yields an infinite sequence of integers starting from a given value, allowing lazy, memory-efficient iteration.

generators infinite sequences yield
Python
def infinite_counter(start=0):
    count = start
    while True:
        yield count
        count += 1

if __name__ == "__main__":
    counter = infinite_counter(5)
    for _ in range(5):
        print(next(counter))
14 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Accumulate Values with a Generator in Python

This generator yields the running total of an iterable's elements, producing a cumulative sum with each step.

generator accumulate cumulative-sum
Python
def accum(iterable):
    total = 0
    for item in iterable:
        total += item
        yield total

# Demo
if __name__ == "__main__":
    data = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    print(list(accum(data)))  # [1, 3, 6, 10, 15]

    # Also works with any iterable, e.g., range
    print(list(accum(range(1, 6))))  # [1, 3, 6, 10, 15]
14 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Build a Sliding Window Generator in Python

Create a generator that yields fixed-size overlapping slices of a sequence, useful for efficient windowed iteration.

generators sliding-window iteration
Python
def sliding_window(sequence, size):
    for i in range(len(sequence) - size + 1):
        yield sequence[i:i + size]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    data = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    n = 3
    for window in sliding_window(data, n):
        print(window)
12 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Close a Generator and Handle GeneratorExit in Python

This Python code demonstrates how to explicitly close a generator using the close() method and handle the GeneratorExit exception through a finally block to run cleanup logic.

generators generator-exit close
Python
def countdown(n):
    try:
        while n > 0:
            yield n
            n -= 1
    finally:
        print(f"Generator closed after countdown completed")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    gen = countdown(5)
    print(next(gen))
    print(next(gen))
    gen.close()
    print("Generator closed explicitly")
12 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Create a Pairwise Generator with zip and tee in Python

Build a memory-efficient generator that yields successive overlapping pairs from any iterable using zip and tee.

itertools generators zip
Python
from itertools import tee


def pairwise(iterable):
    """Yield successive overlapping pairs from iterable."""
    a, b = tee(iterable)
    next(b, None)
    return zip(a, b)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    values = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    print(list(pairwise(values)))
    print(list(pairwise("hello")))
15 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Create an Infinite Arithmetic Sequence Generator in Python

Build a memory-efficient generator that yields an infinite arithmetic progression and extract the first N values with list comprehension.

generators yield infinite-sequences
Python
"""Count generator infinite arithmetic progression"""


def arithmetic_counter(start=0, step=1):
    """Generate an infinite arithmetic sequence."""
    current = start
    while True:
        yield current
        current += step


if __name__ == "__main__":
    counter = arithmetic_counter(1, 3)
    result = [next(c…
14 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Generate Fibonacci Numbers in Python Without Recursion

Build an efficient infinite Fibonacci sequence using a generator function with O(1) memory and no recursion overhead.

generators fibonacci iteration
Python
def fib(n):
    a, b = 0, 1
    for _ in range(n):
        yield a
        a, b = b, a + b

if __name__ == "__main__":
    count = 10
    result = list(fib(count))
    print(result)
15 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Reset Python's Random Seed for Deterministic Output

This code shows how to seed Python's random module to generate identical random sequences across runs, ensuring reproducibility.

random seeding deterministic
Python
import random

def seeded_random_sequence(seed, count=5, low=1, high=100):
    random.seed(seed)
    return [random.randint(low, high) for _ in range(count)]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    seed_value = 42
    first_run = seeded_random_sequence(seed_value)
    print("First run:", first_run)

    # Reset seed and gener…
12 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

How to Slice a Generator with islice in Python

Use itertools.islice to take the first n items from any iterable without materializing the whole sequence into a list.

itertools islice generators
Python
from itertools import islice


def first_n(iterable, n):
    """Return the first n items from an iterable."""
    return list(islice(iterable, n))


if __name__ == "__main__":
    numbers = range(10, 100)  # large iterable
    result = first_n(numbers, 5)
    print(result)  # [10, 11, 12, 13, 14]
14 0 Open
Comprehensions & generators easy

Memory efficient map over large file in Python

A generator-based streaming map that processes a large file line by line without loading the whole file into memory.

generator file-io streaming
Python
import sys

def process_lines(file_path):
    """Memory-efficient map over a large file: yields processed lines."""
    with open(file_path, 'r') as f:
        for line in f:
            # Example mapping: strip whitespace and uppercase
            yield line.strip().upper()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Use a sma…
13 0 Open

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