On Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 12:41 PM, marcus lütolf <marcus.luet...@bluewin.ch> wrote: > Hello experts > > I'am working exercise 5. of 'Practical Programming 2nd edition, .....using > Python 3' (operations on lists). > The following code get's me wrong results: > >>>> metals = [['beryllium', 4],['magnesium', 12], ['calcium', 20], >>>> ['strontium', 38], ['barium', 56], ['radium', 88]] >>>> max(metals) > ['strontium', 38] >>>> min(metals) > ['barium', 56]
When comparing list structures, Python uses a lexicographic ordering. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/LexicographicOrder.html > It should return > ['radium', 88] and > ['beryllium', 4] respectively If you want this, you have to tell Python not to use its default lexicographic ordering. See: https://wiki.python.org/moin/HowTo/Sorting. In particular, pay special attention to the section here: https://wiki.python.org/moin/HowTo/Sorting#Key_Functions, because it's very relevant to your question. If you have questions, please feel free to ask! _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
