Remove duplicate entries when it occurs more than twice

Question

Suppose, I have a list below

list = [1,1,1,1,2,3,1,4,4,4,4,3,3]

I want to remove the duplicates which occur more than twice. Basically, I want like this

[1,1,2,3,4,4,3,3]

I use the following code

i = 0
while i < len(list) -2:
    if list[i] == list[i+2]:
        del list[i+2]
    else:
        i = i+2

this code gives me the following output

[1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3]

Here 4 occurs thrice, but I want twice. How can I modify the code or any other method that could give the desired output?

The short answer is to build a new list containing only the elements you want (and then you can throw away the old list). — Karl Knechtel, Dec 10 '21 at 20:35
You can also try lst = [1,1,1,1,2,3,1,4,4,4,4,3,3] result = [] for i in lst: if result.count(i) < 2 or lst.count(i) % 4 == 3: result.append(i) output: `[1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3]` — ozgenbaris, Dec 10 '21 at 21:09
`[n for *p,n in zip([0,...]+lst,[1]+lst,lst) if [n,n]!=p]` --> [1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 3, 3] — Alain T., Dec 11 '21 at 04:52

patate1684 · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-10T20:55:31.717

1

i = 2
while i < len(list):
    if list[i] == list[i-1] and list[i] == list[i-2]:
        del list[i]
    else:
        i += 1
print(list)

output :

[1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 3, 3]

edited Dec 10 '21 at 20:55

answered Dec 10 '21 at 20:37

patate1684

Thank you, but the problem is that if the 1 repeats again, it removes from the first entry. Say list = [1,1,1,1,2,3,1,4,4,4,4,3,3,1,1]. Applying your solution gives me [2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1]. But the output should be [1,1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 1] – Bloodstone Programmer Dec 10 '21 at 20:53
I have updated my answer. Just put i=2 at the begenning – patate1684 Dec 10 '21 at 20:55

1 Answers1