Python: Select subset from list based on index set

Question

I have several lists having all the same number of entries (each specifying an object property):

property_a = [545., 656., 5.4, 33.]
property_b = [ 1.2,  1.3         


        

Answer 1

Assuming you only have the list of items and a list of true/required indices, this should be the fastest:

property_asel = [ property_a[index] for index in good_indices ]

This means the property selection will only do as many rounds as there are true/required indices. If you have a lot of property lists that follow the rules of a single tags (true/false) list you can create an indices list using the same list comprehension principles:

good_indices = [ index for index, item in enumerate(good_objects) if item ]

This iterates through each item in good_objects (while remembering its index with enumerate) and returns only the indices where the item is true.

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For anyone not getting the list comprehension, here is an English prose version with the code highlighted in bold:

list the index for every group of index, item that exists in an enumeration of good objects, if (where) the item is True