Python – Maximum of Consecutive Pair in integer list

Sometimes, while working with Python list, one can have a problem in which one needs to find perform the maximization of list in pair form. This is useful as a subproblem solution of bigger problem in web development and day-day programming. Let’s discuss certain ways in which this problem can be solved.

Method #1 : Using loop + max()
This is the brute force method to perform this particular task. In this, we just iterate the list till last element in skipped manner to get all the pair maximas in other list in iterative way.

# Python3 code to demonstrate working of
# Consecutive Pair Maximum
# Using loop + max()

# initializing list
test_list = [5, 8, 3, 5, 9, 10]

# printing list
print("The original list : " + str(test_list))

# Consecutive Pair Maximum
# Using loop + max()
res = []
for ele in range(0, len(test_list), 2):
    res.append(max(test_list[ele], test_list[ele + 1]))

# Printing result
print("Pair maximum of list : " + str(res))

Output :

The original list : [5, 8, 3, 5, 9, 10]
Pair maximum of list : [8, 5, 10]

Method #2 : Using zip() + list comprehension + max()
This task can also be performed using the combination of above functionalities. In this, we just iterate the list and the task of combining pairs is performed by zip(). Works only on Python2.

# Python code to demonstrate working of
# Consecutive Pair Maximum
# Using zip() + list comprehension + max()

# initializing list
test_list = [5, 8, 3, 5, 9, 10]

# printing list
print("The original list : " + str(test_list))

# Consecutive Pair Maximum
# zip() + list comprehension + max()
res = [max(i, j) for i, j in zip(test_list, test_list[1:])[::2]]

# Printing result
print("Pair maximum of list : " + str(res))

Output :

The original list : [5, 8, 3, 5, 9, 10]
Pair maximum of list : [8, 5, 10]