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Python's map() Function - An Overview ?

Python's map() is a built-in function that allows you to process and transform all the items in an iterable without using an explicit for loop, a technique commonly known as mapping. map() is useful when you need to apply a transformation function to each item in an iterable and transform them into a new iterable. map() is one of the tools that support a functional programming style in Python.

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In this context, we shall look into how to use the map() function in Python.


What is map() function in Python ?

The map() function executes a specified function for each item in an iterable file. Item in function as a parameter.


What is the syntax for map() function ?

Its syntax is provided below:

map (function, iterables)

Here, the Parameter Values are explained below:

  • function: The function executes for each element in the iterable.
  • iterables: a list, tuple, dictionary… want to browse.


map() function examples

Let's take a look at a few examples like:

def func(n):
return len(n)
x = map(func, ('cat', 'dog', 'tiger'))
print(x)
print(list(x))

When you run this program, you will see an output such as this:

<map object at 0x00000000020E7940>
[3, 3, 5]

Also, we can look at some more examples.

1. Double the variable value n:

def calc(n):
#Double n
return n + n
numbers = (2, 4, 6, 8)
result = map(calc, numbers)
#Convert map object to list
print(list(result))

Its output will look like this:

[4, 8, 12, 16]


2. Using lambda function with map():

numbers = (2, 4, 6, 8)
result = map(lambda n: n+n, numbers)
print(list(result))

The resulting output will look like:

[4, 8, 12, 16]


3. Passing multiple iterator parameters to map() using lambda:

num1 = [2, 3, 4]
num2 = [4, 5, 6]
result = map(lambda x, y: x + y, num1, num2)
print(list(result))

Its Output will give:

[6, 8, 10]


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Conclusion

This article covers how to use the map() function in Python. In fact, map() function returns a map object(which is an iterator) of the results after applying the given function to each item of a given iterable (list, tuple etc.). Sometimes you might face situations in which you need to perform the same operation on all the items of an input iterable to build a new iterable. The quickest and most common approach to this problem is to use a Python for loop. However, you can also tackle this problem without an explicit loop by using map().