121. More list comprehension examples

Example 1 – double the numbers

Standard loop approach:

foo = [1, 2, 3, 4]
bar = []

for x in foo:
    bar.append(x * 2)
    
print(bar)

Out:

[2, 4, 6, 8]

Using list comprehension:

foo = [1, 2, 3, 4]
bar = [x * 2 for x in foo]
print(bar)

Out:

[2, 4, 6, 8]

Example 2 – convert Celsius to Fahrenheit

This example calls a function from within the list comprehension.

Define the function:

def convert_celsius_to_fahrenheit(deg_celsius):
    """
    Convert degress celsius to fahrenheit
    Returns float value - temp in fahrenheit
    Keyword arguments:
        def_celcius -- temp in degrees celsius
    """
    return (9/5) * deg_celsius + 32

Standard loop approach:

#list of temps in degree celsius to convert to fahrenheit
celsius = [39.2, 36.5, 37.3, 41.0]

#standard for loop approach
fahrenheit = []
for x in celsius:
    fahrenheit.append(convert_celsius_to_fahrenheit(x))

print('Using standard for loop: {}'.format(fahrenheit))

Out:

Using standard for loop: [102.56, 97.7, 99.14, 105.8]

Using list comprehension

fahrenheit = [convert_celsius_to_fahrenheit(x) for x in celsius]
print('Using list comprehension: {}'.format(fahrenheit))

Out:

Using list comprehension: [102.56, 97.7, 99.14, 105.8]

Example 3 – convert the strings to different data types

This example also make use of the zip function. Zip allows you to iterate through two lists at the same time.

inputs = ["1", "3.142", "True", "spam"]
converters = [int, float, bool, str]

values_with_correct_data_types = [t(s) for (s, t) in zip(inputs, converters)]
print(values_with_correct_data_types)

Out:

[1, 3.142, True, 'spam']

Example 4 – Using if statements within a list comprehension

The example filters a list of file names to the python files only

unfiltered_files = ['test.py', 'names.csv', 'fun_module.py', 'prog.config']

# Standard loop form
python_files = []
# filter the files using a standard for loop 
for file in unfiltered_files:
    if file[-2:] == 'py':
        python_files.append(file)
        
print('using standard for loop: {}'.format(python_files))

#list comprehension
python_files = [file for file in unfiltered_files if file[-2:] == 'py']

print('using list comprehension {}'.format(python_files))

Out:

using standard for loop: ['test.py', 'fun_module.py']
using list comprehension ['test.py', 'fun_module.py']

Example 5 – List comprehension to create a list of lists

list_of_lists = []

# Standard loop form
for i in range(5):
    sub_list = []
    for j in range(3):
        sub_list.append(i * j)
    list_of_lists.append(sub_list)

print(list_of_lists)


# List comprehension
list_of_lists = [[i * j for j in range(3)] for i in range(5)]

print(list_of_lists)

Out:

[[0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 2], [0, 2, 4], [0, 3, 6], [0, 4, 8]]
[[0, 0, 0], [0, 1, 2], [0, 2, 4], [0, 3, 6], [0, 4, 8]]

Example 6: Iterate over all items in a list of lists

The code converts a list of lists to a list of items
We call this flattening the list.

list_of_lists = [[8, 2, 1], [9, 1, 2], [4, 5, 100]]

# Standard loop form
flat_list = []
for row in list_of_lists:
    for col in row:
        flat_list.append(col)

print(flat_list)

# List comprehension:
flat_list = [item for sublist in list_of_lists for item in sublist]
print(flat_list)

Out:

[8, 2, 1, 9, 1, 2, 4, 5, 100]
[8, 2, 1, 9, 1, 2, 4, 5, 100]