I have what I think is a fairly complicated problem to solve. For each item in a list I must get a total area. When the area of enough of those items meets a total area, those items must be split into a separate list. The process will then continue for the subsequent items in the list.
The code looks something like this, but does not work yet:
all_areas = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
def get_area(n):
# in my actual code the function does more than just return n as it is.
return n
for i in all_areas:
total_area=0
ids=[]
while total_area < 20:
area = get_area(i)
total_area+=area
ids.append(i)
else:
# pass along ids before resetting counters
call_another_function(ids)
total_area=0
ids=[]
With 20 as the threshold and with the given parameters, I am intending the call_another_function will be called once with [1,2,3,4,5,6] and then another time with [7,8,9]. The loop will then finish. Some help with this problem would be appreciated.
I was also wondering if this would be a suitable circumstance to use yield and generators? These seem to be a useful capability of Python that I have not ever had to use before.
If you are looking to learn generators, here's a way to use them:
def area_up_to(it, n):
total_area = 0
ids = []
for x in it:
total_area += get_area(x)
ids.append(x)
if total_area >= n:
yield ids
total_area = 0
ids = []
if ids:
yield ids
To use it, call the function to produce a generator:
area_gen = area_up_to(all_areas, 20)
Then you can iterate it or call next(area_gen) to get the next set:
for x in area_gen:
print(x)
Output:
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
[7, 8, 9]
You had some logic issues and a wild while..else in there, but this works:
total_area=0
ids=[]
for i in all_areas:
area = get_area(i)
total_area += area
ids.append(i)
if total_area > 20:
# pass along ids before resetting counters
print(ids)
total_area=0
ids=[]
if ids:
print(ids)