python - Single Line Nested For Loops

Python - Single Line Nested For Loops

In Python, nested for loops can be written on a single line using list comprehensions. This is a concise way to create lists (or perform other operations) based on multiple iterations over one or more iterables. Here's how you can use single line nested for loops effectively:

Example of Nested For Loops in a Single Line

Let's say you have two lists, and you want to create a list of tuples where each tuple contains elements from both lists:

list1 = ['a', 'b', 'c'] list2 = [1, 2, 3] # Using list comprehension for nested for loops result = [(x, y) for x in list1 for y in list2] print(result) 

Output:

[('a', 1), ('a', 2), ('a', 3), ('b', 1), ('b', 2), ('b', 3), ('c', 1), ('c', 2), ('c', 3)] 

Explanation

  • List Comprehension Syntax: The basic syntax for a list comprehension is [expression for item1 in iterable1 for item2 in iterable2 ...].

  • Order of Iteration: The order of the for clauses in the comprehension matches the order you would nest the for loops conventionally.

  • Expression: The expression [(x, y) for x in list1 for y in list2] creates tuples (x, y) for each combination of x from list1 and y from list2.

Additional Examples

Nested List Comprehension with Conditions

You can also include conditions inside nested list comprehensions:

# Example: Create a list of tuples where the sum of elements is even result = [(x, y) for x in list1 for y in list2 if (x + y) % 2 == 0] print(result) 

Output (based on list1 and list2 from previous example):

[('a', 1), ('a', 3), ('b', 2), ('c', 1), ('c', 3)] 

Nested List Comprehension with Nested Data Structures

You can create more complex nested data structures like lists of lists or dictionaries:

# Example: Create a list of lists matrix = [[x * y for y in range(1, 4)] for x in range(1, 4)] print(matrix) 

Output:

[[1, 2, 3], [2, 4, 6], [3, 6, 9]] 

Using Nested Dict Comprehension

Similarly, you can use nested dictionary comprehensions:

# Example: Create a dictionary of dictionaries dict_of_dicts = {f'key_{x}': {f'subkey_{y}': x + y for y in range(1, 4)} for x in range(1, 4)} print(dict_of_dicts) 

Output:

{ 'key_1': {'subkey_1': 2, 'subkey_2': 3, 'subkey_3': 4}, 'key_2': {'subkey_1': 3, 'subkey_2': 4, 'subkey_3': 5}, 'key_3': {'subkey_1': 4, 'subkey_2': 5, 'subkey_3': 6} } 

Conclusion

Using single line nested for loops with list comprehensions provides a concise and Pythonic way to create lists, dictionaries, or perform any kind of iteration-based operation in Python. It's efficient and readable once you get used to the syntax and can handle both simple and complex nesting scenarios effectively.

Examples

  1. How to create a list of tuples using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This example demonstrates how to create a list of tuples using nested for loops in a single line.
    • Code:
      coordinates = [(x, y) for x in range(3) for y in range(3)] print(coordinates) # Output: [(0, 0), (0, 1), (0, 2), (1, 0), (1, 1), (1, 2), (2, 0), (2, 1), (2, 2)] 
  2. How to flatten a list of lists using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This code snippet shows how to flatten a nested list using a single line nested loop.
    • Code:
      nested_list = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5], [6]] flat_list = [item for sublist in nested_list for item in sublist] print(flat_list) # Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] 
  3. How to generate a multiplication table using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This example generates a multiplication table from 1 to 3 using a single line nested for loop.
    • Code:
      multiplication_table = [[f"{i} x {j} = {i*j}" for j in range(1, 4)] for i in range(1, 4)] print(multiplication_table) # Output: [['1 x 1 = 1', '1 x 2 = 2', '1 x 3 = 3'], ...] 
  4. How to create a dictionary from two lists using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This code snippet demonstrates how to create a dictionary from two lists.
    • Code:
      keys = ['a', 'b', 'c'] values = [1, 2, 3] dictionary = {keys[i]: values[i] for i in range(len(keys))} print(dictionary) # Output: {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3} 
  5. How to find common elements in two lists using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This example finds common elements between two lists.
    • Code:
      list1 = [1, 2, 3, 4] list2 = [3, 4, 5, 6] common_elements = [x for x in list1 for y in list2 if x == y] print(common_elements) # Output: [3, 4] 
  6. How to create a Cartesian product of two lists using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This code snippet shows how to create a Cartesian product using a nested for loop in one line.
    • Code:
      colors = ['red', 'green', 'blue'] sizes = ['S', 'M', 'L'] cartesian_product = [(color, size) for color in colors for size in sizes] print(cartesian_product) # Output: [('red', 'S'), ('red', 'M'), ...] 
  7. How to generate a list of squares of numbers from two ranges using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This example generates a list of squares for each combination of numbers in two ranges.
    • Code:
      squares = [x**2 + y**2 for x in range(3) for y in range(3)] print(squares) # Output: [0, 1, 4, 1, 2, 5, 4, 5, 8] 
  8. How to extract specific characters from a list of strings using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This code snippet extracts the first character of each string in a list.
    • Code:
      words = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry'] first_letters = [word[0] for word in words] print(first_letters) # Output: ['a', 'b', 'c'] 
  9. How to count the occurrences of items in a list using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This example counts occurrences of items in a list using a nested for loop.
    • Code:
      items = ['apple', 'banana', 'apple', 'orange', 'banana'] counts = {item: items.count(item) for item in set(items)} print(counts) # Output: {'apple': 2, 'banana': 2, 'orange': 1} 
  10. How to transpose a matrix using single line nested for loops?

    • Description: This code snippet transposes a 2D list (matrix) in a single line.
    • Code:
      matrix = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]] transposed = [[row[i] for row in matrix] for i in range(len(matrix[0]))] print(transposed) # Output: [[1, 4, 7], [2, 5, 8], [3, 6, 9]] 

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