Here's the code in question:
my_list = ['apples', 'oranges', 'cherries', 'banana']
print(max(my_list)
Why does it print 'oranges' instead of 'cherries'?
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John Salerno
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2Oranges comes after cherries alphabetically. – Mark Jan 07 '20 at 05:48
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3Max doesn't return the longest string, it returns whichever comes the last lexicographically. max('aaaaa', 'b') returns 'b'. – FatihAkici Jan 07 '20 at 05:52
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You may as well ask why it doesn't return `'banana`, since that is last in the list. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 07 '20 at 06:08
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There's no need to be rude about me not understanding how max() works. It seems reasonable enough from a newbie perspective to think it would return the longest string. I never assumed it meant to return the *last* string. – John Salerno Jan 07 '20 at 23:30
2 Answers
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Strings are sorted lexicographically, relative to each other. o comes after a, b, and c. The length isn't a factor unless the strings are identical up to that point, in which case the shorter string is judged as 'less'. max(), then, produces the lexicographically greatest string (i.e. furthest back in the dictionary).
If you want to sort by length, you have to give the max() function a key (for example, the len() function):
>>> my_list = ['apples', 'oranges', 'cherries', 'banana']
>>> print(max(my_list))
oranges
>>> print(max(my_list, key=len))
cherries
Green Cloak Guy
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The max() function returns the item with the highest value, or the item with the highest value in an iterable.
If the values are strings, an alphabetically comparison is done.
sam
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