Algorithms & data structures
Classic patterns — search, sort, stacks, queues, and practical complexity-aware code.
Drop Elements From Start While Condition Is True in Python
This generator function drops elements from the beginning of an iterable while a predicate returns true, then yields the rest.
def drop_while(predicate, iterable):
"""Drop elements from the start while predicate is true."""
it = iter(iterable)
for item in it:
if not predicate(item):
yield item
break
yield from it
if __name__ == "__main__":
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5]
result = list(d…Find the First Index Where a Condition Is True in Python
Search any iterable for the first element matching a predicate and return its index, or -1 if none match.
def first_true_index(items, condition):
"""Return the first index where condition(item) is True, or -1 if none match."""
for i, item in enumerate(items):
if condition(item):
return i
return -1
if __name__ == "__main__":
numbers = [1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12]
# Find first number greate…How to Build a Coordinate Grid with Nested Loops in Python
Generate a 2D list of (row, col) coordinate pairs using nested loops and return the grid structure.
def build_coordinate_grid(rows, cols):
"""Build a 2D grid of (row, col) coordinates using nested loops."""
grid = []
for r in range(rows):
row = []
for c in range(cols):
row.append((r, c))
grid.append(row)
return grid
if __name__ == "__main__":
grid = build_coo…How to Compute the Cartesian Product of Two Lists in Python
Generates all ordered pairs from two lists using itertools.product and prints each combination.
from itertools import product
# Two small input lists
list_a = [1, 2, 3]
list_b = ["x", "y"]
# Compute the Cartesian product
result = list(product(list_a, list_b))
# Display the result
print("Cartesian product of", list_a, "and", list_b, "is:")
for pair in result:
print(pair)How to Find Gaps Between Sorted Intervals in Python
This code finds gap ranges between sorted intervals using pairwise iteration, returning ranges where no interval covers.
from itertools import pairwise
def find_gaps(intervals):
intervals = sorted(intervals)
gaps = []
for prev, curr in pairwise(intervals):
if prev[1] < curr[0]:
gaps.append((prev[1] + 1, curr[0] - 1))
return gaps
if __name__ == "__main__":
intervals = [(1, 3), (5, 7), (10, 12), (…How to Flatten List of Dict Values in Python
This code flattens the values of a list of dictionaries into a single list, handling both list values and scalar values.
def flatten_dict_values(dicts):
flattened = []
for d in dicts:
for value in d.values():
if isinstance(value, list):
flattened.extend(value)
else:
flattened.append(value)
return flattened
if __name__ == "__main__":
data = [
{"a": …How to Generate Fibonacci Sequence in Python
Generate the first n Fibonacci numbers as a list using a simple iterative loop.
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)How to Generate Permutations of Length r in Python
Generate and print all r-length permutations of a list using Python's itertools.permutations.
from itertools import permutations
def show_permutations(items, r):
result = list(permutations(items, r))
for perm in result:
print(perm)
print(f"Total: {len(result)}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
data = ["A", "B", "C"]
show_permutations(data, 2)How to Get All Combinations of a List in Python
Generate and display all combinations of a given length from a list using Python's itertools.combinations.
from itertools import combinations
def list_combinations(items, r):
"""Return all combinations of length r from a list."""
return list(combinations(items, r))
if __name__ == "__main__":
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "date"]
pick = 2
result = list_combinations(fruits, pick)
print…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__"…Take While Predicate True From Start in Python
Create a custom take_while function that collects elements from an iterable until a predicate returns False, then stops.
def take_while(predicate, iterable):
"""Return elements from iterable until the predicate becomes False."""
result = []
for item in iterable:
if predicate(item):
result.append(item)
else:
break
return result
if __name__ == "__main__":
numbers = [2, 4, 6, 7,…Browse by section
Each section groups closely related Python snippets.
Algorithms & data structures — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects algorithms & data structures snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
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.