Map, Filter and Reduce
These are three functions which facilitate a functional approach to programming.
Map
Applies a function to all the items in an input_list.
map(function_to_apply, list_of_inputs)
Example: Pass all the list elements to a function one-by-one and then collect the output.
Normal way:
items = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
squared = []
for i in items:
squared.append(i**2)
With Map
:
items = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
squared = list(map(lambda x: x**2, items))
Most of the times we use lambdas with map
. Instead of a list of inputs we can even have a list of functions!
def multiply(x):
return (x*x)
def add(x):
return (x+x)
funcs = [multiply, add]
for i in range(5):
value = list(map(lambda x: x(i), funcs))
print(value)
# Output:
# [0, 0]
# [1, 2]
# [4, 4]
# [9, 6]
# [16, 8]
Filter
Create a list of elements for which a function returns true.
Example:
number_list = range(-5, 5)
less_than_zero = list(filter(lambda x: x < 0, number_list))
print(less_than_zero)
# Output: [-5, -4, -3, -2, -1]
The filter resembles a for loop but it is a builtin function and faster.
Reduce
Perform some computation on a list and return the result. It applies a rolling computation to sequential pairs of values in a list.
Example, compute the product of a list of integers.
The normal way:
product = 1
list = [1, 2, 3, 4]
for num in list:
product = product * num
# product = 24
Now with reduce:
from functools import reduce
product = reduce((lambda x, y: x * y), [1, 2, 3, 4])
# Output: 24
Last updated