
Functional Python Programming

In many cases, the definition of a helper function seems to requires too much code. Often, we can digest the key
function to a single expression. It can seem wasteful to have to write both def
and return
statements to wrap a single expression.
Python offers the lambda form as a way to simplify using higher-order functions. A lambda form allows us to define a small, anonymous function. The function's body is limited to a single expression.
The following is an example of using a simple lambda
expression as the key:
long = max(trip, key=lambda leg: leg[2]) short = min(trip, key=lambda leg: leg[2])
The lambda
we've used will be given an item from the sequence; in this case, each leg three tuple will be given to the lambda
. The lambda
argument variable, leg
, is assigned and the expression, leg[2]
, is evaluated, plucking the distance from the three tuple.
In cases where a lambda is used exactly once, this form is ideal. When reusing a lambda, it's important to avoid copy...
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