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Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"?

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On 15/12/2011 16:48, Roy Smith wrote:
> I've got a list, ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'].  I want to generate the string, "a, b, c, and d" (I'll settle for no comma after 'c').  Is there some standard way to do this, handling all the special cases?
>
> [] ==>  ''
> ['a'] ==>  'a'
> ['a', 'b'] ==>  'a and b'
> ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'] ==>  'a, b, and c'
>
> It seems like the kind of thing django.contrib.humanize would handle, but alas, it doesn't.

How about this:

def and_list(items):
     if len(items) <= 2:
         return " and ".join(items)

     return ", ".join(items[ : -1]) + ", and " + items[-1]

print(and_list([]))
print(and_list(['a']))
print(and_list(['a', 'b']))
print(and_list(['a', 'b', 'c']))
print(and_list(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']))

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How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-15 08:48 -0800
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2011-12-15 17:27 +0000
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-12-15 12:01 -0600
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2011-12-15 10:19 -0800
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2011-12-15 12:51 -0600
    Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-15 11:01 -0800
    Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-12-15 11:01 -0800
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2011-12-15 19:27 +0000
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2011-12-15 14:22 -0700
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2011-12-15 19:57 -0500
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-12-16 13:42 +1100
  Re: How to generate "a, b, c, and d"? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2011-12-16 00:26 -0500

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