maximum element?

[Ivan Voras]

What is the 'most pythonic' way of searching the largest element in a
list/tuple?

My 'standard' idea is:

max = list[0] # or -infinity, or whatever...
for i in list:
if i > max:
max = i

While this is ok, I somehow 'feel' there could be a more concise
solution...

 

[David M. Cooke]

What is the 'most pythonic' way of searching the largest element in a
list/tuple?

My 'standard' idea is:

max = list[0] # or -infinity, or whatever...
for i in list:
if i > max:
max = i

While this is ok, I somehow 'feel' there could be a more concise
solution...

max(list)

 

[Heather Coppersmith]

What is the 'most pythonic' way of searching the largest element in a
list/tuple?

My 'standard' idea is:

max = list[0] # or -infinity, or whatever...
for i in list:
if i > max:
max = i

While this is ok, I somehow 'feel' there could be a more concise
solution...

How about max( list )?

Regards,
Heather

 

[Robert Kern]

What is the 'most pythonic' way of searching the largest element in a
list/tuple?
max(list)

My 'standard' idea is:

max = list[0] # or -infinity, or whatever...
for i in list:
if i > max:
max = i

While this is ok, I somehow 'feel' there could be a more concise
solution...

Indeed.

--
Robert Kern
(e-mail address removed)

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
-- Richard Harter

 

[JCM]

What is the 'most pythonic' way of searching the largest element in a
list/tuple?

My 'standard' idea is:

max = list[0] # or -infinity, or whatever...
for i in list:
if i > max:
max = i

While this is ok, I somehow 'feel' there could be a more concise
solution...

reduce(lambda x, y: (x, y)[x < y], list)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Ivan Voras]

reduce(lambda x, y: (x, y)[x < y], list)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Actually, I thought that the 'better' way would be using a lambda
function but then again, I was waaay wrong ))

Thanks, all

 

[Thorsten Kampe]

Catching up...

* Ivan Voras (2004-03-04 22:52 +0100)

What is the 'most pythonic' way of searching the largest element in a
list/tuple?

My 'standard' idea is:

max = list[0] # or -infinity, or whatever...
for i in list:
if i > max:
max = i

While this is ok, I somehow 'feel' there could be a more concise
solution...

max(seq)

In a real world example you wouldn't be interested in "the" maximum
but in the extrema/maxima according to function f (in your case the
identity f(x)=x), which could be more than just one item.

Thorsten