CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-3.x
Tartar
Tartar

Reputation: 5452

Finding maximum value of a list(Python)

Here is my function:

def listMaxInd(l):
    max_val = l[0]
    maxIndex = 0
    count_assigment = 1
    count_comparison = 0
    for i in range(1,len(l)):
        count_comparison=count_comparison+1
        if l[i]>max_val:
            max_val=l[i]
            maxIndex=l.index(max_val)
            count_assigment = count_assigment + 1

    return maxIndex,count_assigment,count_comparison

I want to find maximum value of a list by only assigning indices, and not by assigning the values.

In my version I am assigning values still. Is it possible to find the maximum without this?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 475

Answers (1)

Martijn Pieters
Martijn Pieters

Reputation: 1124538

If you need to use a loop and cannot use the max() function, then you are stuck with assigning at the very least the index pointing at the maximum found so far:

max_index = 0
for i, value in enumerate(l):
    if value > l[max_index]:
        max_index = i

When the loop completes, max_index points to the (first occurrence of) the maximum value in l. enumerate() is a more compact and efficient method of generating indices in a loop, together with the values iterated over.

The more efficient method would be to use the max() function with a key:

max_index = max(range(len(l)), key=l.__getitem__)

This will return the (first) index of the maximum value in list l; given a list of indices (range(len(l))), it'll find the index for which l.__getitem__() returns the highest value.

Upvotes: 2

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