Amazing hacks of Python

Python is one of the programming languages known for its simple syntax, readability. Whether working on development, data analysis, or automation, Python provides the tools to get the task done with less effort.

But beyond the basics, Python has some hacks that make the code not only shorter but also more efficient. These are not bugs or workarounds, but the smart ways of using the Python built-in features and functions to solve tasks in a faster manner.

In this article, we are going to learn about the amazing hacks of Python.

Performing a Swap Without a Temporary Variable

Let's look at the following example, where we are going to swap the values of two variables in one line without using a temporary variable.

x = 11
y = 12
x, y = y, x
print("x =", x)
print("y =", y)

The output of the above program is as follows -

x = 12
y = 11

Generally, swapping values requires a temporary variable, but in Python, we can swap values in one line using the tuple unpacking. which is clean and eliminates the need for a third variable.

List Comprehension

The Python list comprehension offers a simple way to create a list using a single line of code. It combines loops and conditional statements, making it efficient compared to the traditional methods of list construction.

In the following example, we are going to generate the list of squares of even numbers from 10 to 21.

lst = [x**2 for x in range(10, 21) if x % 2 == 0]
print(lst)

Following is the output of the above program -

[100, 144, 196, 256, 324, 400]

The zip() Function

The zip() function is used to combine multiple iterables(like lists or tuples) element-wise into pairs. It returns an iterator of tuples, and we can convert it into a list using the list(). It is useful for pairing or parallel iteration.

In the following example, we are going to use the zip() function to combine two lists into a list of tuples.

lst1 = ['Audi', 'BMW', 'Ciaz']
lst2 = [1121, 2342, 3453]
result = list(zip(lst1, lst2))
print(result)

If we run the above program, it will generate the following output -

[('Audi', 1121), ('BMW', 2342), ('Ciaz', 3453)]