Python: finding an element in a list [duplicate]

Answer 1

The index method of a list will do this for you. If you want to guarantee order, sort the list first using sorted(). Sorted accepts a cmp or key parameter to dictate how the sorting will happen:

a = [5, 4, 3]
print sorted(a).index(5)

Or:

a = ['one', 'aardvark', 'a']
print sorted(a, key=len).index('a')