[Tutor] if value in list of dictionaries

[Peter Otten]

Norman Khine wrote:

> thanks for the reply, i think i have it now, perhaps it could be done
> better

> >>> topics.sort(key=itemgetter('name'))
> >>> for i, t in enumerate(topics):
> ...     for (k, v) in t.iteritems():
> ...             if v == 'other':
> ...                     topics.append(topics.pop(i))
> ... 
 
You should never iterate over a list or dictionary and add or remove items 
to it at the same time. That is a recipe for disaster even if it doesn't 
fail explicitly*

As Christian Witts explains in the "trouble with list.remove() loop" thread 
you will not see all items.

I suggest that you use a better sort key instead:

>>> def sort_key(topic):
...     name = topic["name"]
...     return name == "other", name
...
>>> topics.sort(key=sort_key)

>>> pprint(topics)
[{'industry': 'travel',
  'name': 'assistant-manager',
  'value': 'Assistant Manager'},

<snip>

 {'industry': 'travel', 'name': 'university', 'value': 'University'},
 {'industry': 'travel', 'name': 'other', 'value': 'Other'}]

The above sort_key() checks only the "name" key for an "other" value. It 
will return a (True, name) tuple if the name is "other" and (False, name) 
else. As 

False < True 

it ensures that topics with topic["name"] == "other" are placed after all 
others. If (like your attempt suggests) you want to check all values instead 
of just the one associated with the "name" key use

def sort_key(topic):
    return "other" in topic.itervalues(), topic["name"]

Remember that both functions are case-sensitive.

Peter

(*) I'll leave it to Steven D'Aprano to add the fine print ;)