Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!news.mixmin.net!feeds.phibee-telecom.net!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed3a.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!newsgate.cistron.nl!newsgate.news.xs4all.nl!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail Return-Path: X-Original-To: python-list@python.org Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org X-Spam-Status: OK 0.060 X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.89; '*S*': 0.01; '"""': 0.07; 'assuming': 0.09; 'raises': 0.09; 'received:80.91': 0.09; 'received:80.91.229': 0.09; 'received:gmane.org': 0.09; 'received:list': 0.09; 'def': 0.12; 'finney': 0.16; 'integer.': 0.16; 'poker': 0.16; 'pythonic': 0.16; 'received:80.91.229.3': 0.16; 'received:plane.gmane.org': 0.16; 'subject:More': 0.16; ':-)': 0.16; 'appears': 0.22; 'header:User-Agent:1': 0.23; 'lets': 0.24; 'header:X-Complaints-To:1': 0.27; 'function': 0.29; "i'm": 0.30; 'subject:skip:i 10': 0.31; 'writes:': 0.31; 'another': 0.32; 'device': 0.34; 'something': 0.35; '8bit%:17': 0.36; 'words,': 0.36; 'useful': 0.36; 'operating': 0.37; 'list': 0.37; 'ben': 0.38; 'to:addr:python-list': 0.38; 'anything': 0.39; 'does': 0.39; 'highest': 0.39; 'to:addr:python.org': 0.39; 'received:org': 0.40; "you're": 0.61; 'maximum': 0.63; 'more': 0.64; 'skip:\xe2 10': 0.65; 'determine': 0.67; '8bit%:40': 0.68; 'hand': 0.80; 'collection.': 0.84; 'hand.': 0.84; 'rank.': 0.84; 'received:125': 0.84; 'hand,': 0.93; 'rank': 0.93; 'hands': 0.96; 'ranking': 0.96 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: python-list@python.org From: Ben Finney Subject: Re: More Pythonic implementation Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 09:41:58 +1000 References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: jigong.madmonks.org X-Public-Key-ID: 0xAC128405 X-Public-Key-Fingerprint: 517C F14B B2F3 98B0 CB35 4855 B8B2 4C06 AC12 8405 X-Public-Key-URL: http://www.benfinney.id.au/contact/bfinney-pubkey.asc X-Post-From: Ben Finney User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/24.3 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:d/Y5YaFtMpPFue+8JrVsBUPnsAE= X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.15 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Message-ID: Lines: 38 NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6 X-Trace: 1408491733 news.xs4all.nl 2900 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:48117 X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:76625 Shubham Tomar writes: > Lets say I have a function poker(hands) that takes a list of hands and > returns the highest ranking hand, and another function hand_rank(hand) > that takes hand and return its rank. To make it clearer, I think you mean something like this:: def hand_rank(hand): """ Determine the rank of the poker hand. """ rank = int(some_complex_computation(hand)) return rank In other words, I'm assuming ‘hand_rank’ returns an integer. > Which of the following is better and more Pythonic ? Only one of them does anything useful :-) > def poker(hands): > return max(hands, key=hand_rank) This will return the item from the collection ‘hand’ with the maximum value as determined by ‘hand_rank’. So this appears to do what you want. > def poker(hands): > return max(hand_rank(hands)) This raises “TypeError: 'int' object is not iterable” because you're operating on one return value from ‘hand_rank’, which is not a collection. -- \ “Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual | `\ profit without individual responsibility.” —Ambrose Bierce, | _o__) _The Devil's Dictionary_, 1906 | Ben Finney