25 Essential Python Snippets to Solve Everyday Coding Problems

Python is one of the top languages for web development, application development, security, and data science. To make your Python coding faster and simpler, here are 25 useful code snippets that address common everyday problems.

1. Sort a List

Quickly sort a list using the built‑in list.sort() method or the sorted() function.

lst = ["Mango", "PineApple", "Orange", "Apple"]
# method 1
lst.sort()
print(lst)  # ['Apple', 'Mango', 'Orange', 'PineApple']
# method 2 – generic sorting
new_lst = sorted(lst)
print(new_lst)  # ['Apple', 'Mango', 'Orange', 'PineApple']
# reverse sorting
new_lst = sorted(lst, reverse=True)
print(new_lst)  # ['PineApple', 'Orange', 'Mango', 'Apple']

2. Sort a Dictionary

Sort a dictionary by its values using a dictionary comprehension or dict() with sorted().

d = {1: 2, 3: 4, 4: 3, 2: 1, 0: 0}
# method 1
new_dict = {k: v for k, v in sorted(d.items(), key=lambda item: item[1])}
print(new_dict)  # {0: 0, 2: 1, 1: 2, 4: 3, 3: 4}
# method 2
new_dict = dict(sorted(d.items(), key=lambda item: item[1]))
print(new_dict)  # {0: 0, 2: 1, 1: 2, 4: 3, 3: 4}

3. Print on the Same Line

Use the end parameter of print or sys.stdout.write to avoid automatic newlines.

# method 1
print("I'm a Python", end=" ")
print("Programmer")
# method 2
import sys
sys.stdout.write("I'm a Python")
sys.stdout.write(" Programmer")

4. Merge Two Dictionaries

Combine two dictionaries into a new one with dict.update().

def merge_two_dict(x, y):
    z = x.copy()
    z.update(y)
    return z
x = {"A": 1, "B": 2}
y = {"C": 3, "D": 4}
print(merge_two_dict(x, y))  # {'A': 1, 'B': 2, 'C': 3, 'D': 4}

5. Reverse Data

Reverse strings or integers using slicing.

def reverse(data):
    return data[::-1]
print(reverse("Python"))   # nohtyP
print(reverse("23354"))    # 45332

6. Check for Duplicates

Determine if a list contains duplicate elements.

def check_duplicates(lst):
    return len(lst) != len(set(lst))
lst1 = [1, 2, 3, 3]
lst2 = [1, 2, 3]
print(check_duplicates(lst1))  # True
print(check_duplicates(lst2))  # False

7. Filter Unique Items

Obtain a list of unique values by converting to a set and back.

mylist = [1, 2, 3, 2, 5, 6, 6, 5, 7]
unique = list(set(mylist))
print(unique)  # [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7]

8. Digitize a Number

Convert an integer into a list of its digits.

def digitize(num):
    return list(map(int, str(num)))
print(digitize(321))  # [3, 2, 1]
print(digitize(900))  # [9, 0, 0]

9. Byte Size of a String

Use len and encode to get the byte length of a string.

def byte_size(string):
    return len(string.encode('utf-8'))
print(byte_size("hello"))            # 5
print(byte_size("Python Programming"))  # 18

10. Find Similar Elements

Return the intersection of two lists.

def similarity(x, y):
    return [item for item in x if item in y]
x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
y = [1, 2, 3]
print(similarity(x, y))  # [1, 2, 3]

11. Memory Usage of a Variable

Check how many bytes a variable occupies using sys.getsizeof.

import sys
var1 = 500
var2 = "Python"
print(sys.getsizeof(var1))  # 28
print(sys.getsizeof(var2))  # 55

12. Get Vowels from a String

Extract vowels using a list comprehension.

def get_vowels(string):
    return [ch for ch in string if ch in 'aeiou']
print(get_vowels("asert"))   # ['a', 'e']
print(get_vowels("football"))  # ['o', 'o', 'a']

13. Palindrome Check

Verify whether a string reads the same backward.

def palindrome(string):
    return string == string[::-1]
print(palindrome('mom'))   # True
print(palindrome('bob'))   # True
print(palindrome('desk'))  # False

14. Fast Value Swap

Swap two variables using tuple unpacking.

# old method
a = 5
b = 6
temp = a
a = b
b = temp
print(a, b)  # 6 5
# new method
a, b = 5, 6
a, b = b, a
print(a, b)  # 6 5

15. Random Shuffle

Shuffle a list in place with random.shuffle.

import random
lst = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
random.shuffle(lst)
print(lst)  # e.g., [1, 2, 3, 5, 4]
random.shuffle(lst)
print(lst)  # e.g., [4, 2, 5, 3, 1]

16. Error Handling

Catch runtime errors without terminating the program.

try:
    print(a)  # NameError
except:
    print(b)  # NameError again
else:
    print("Program is still running, Error is handled")

17. Capitalize First Letter of Each Word

Use the title() method to capitalize words.

string1 = "python programming language"
print(string1.title())  # Python Programming Language
string2 = "learn python"
print(string2.title())  # Learn Python

18. Get Head and Tail of a List

Retrieve the first and last elements of a list.

def head(lst):
    return lst[0]
def tail(lst):
    return lst[-1]
lst = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
print(head(lst))  # 1
print(tail(lst))  # 5

19. Prime Check

Determine whether a number is prime.

import math
def is_prime(n):
    if n % 2 == 0 and n > 2:
        return False
    return all(n % i for i in range(3, int(math.sqrt(n)) + 1, 2))
print(is_prime(11))  # True
print(is_prime(4))   # False

20. Initialize List with Range

Create a list of integers within a given range and step.

def initialize_list(end, start=0, steps=1):
    return list(range(start, end + 1, steps))
print(initialize_list(5))          # [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
print(initialize_list(7, 1))      # [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
print(initialize_list(8, 1, 2))  # [1, 3, 5, 7]

21. Convert to Binary

Convert an integer to its binary representation.

def convert_to_binary(num):
    return bin(num)
print(convert_to_binary(900))  # 0b1110000100
print(convert_to_binary(300))  # 0b100101100

22. Convert Word to List

Split a sentence into a list of words using regular expressions.

import re
def word_to_list(string, pattern='[a-zA-Z-]+'):
    return re.findall(pattern, string)
print(word_to_list("Python"))                # ['Python']
print(word_to_list("Are you a Programmer?")) # ['Are', 'you', 'a', 'Programmer']

23. Split Method

Demonstrate different uses of the split() method.

# example 1
string = "I'm a Programmer"
print(string.split())  # ["I'm", 'a', 'Programmer']
# example 2
string = "I'm a Programmer"
print(string.split('a'))  # ["I'm ", ' Progr', 'mmer']
# example 3
string = "I'm
a
Programmer"
print(string.split('
'))  # ["I'm", 'a', 'Programmer']

24. N‑Times String

Repeat a string multiple times without a loop.

s = "Data"
N = s * 5
print(N)  # DataDataDataDataData
s = "Python"
N = s * 2
print(N)  # PythonPython

25. Flatten a List

Convert a nested list into a flat list.

def flatten_list(lst):
    return [a for b in lst for a in b]
print(flatten_list([[1,2,3],[4,5],[7,8]]))  # [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8]
print(flatten_list([[1,2,3],[8,9]]))        # [1, 2, 3, 8, 9]

I hope these snippets are helpful and enjoyable for learning. Thanks for reading, and feel free to share them with friends who might benefit.