Retrieve the two highest item from a list containing 100,000 integers

Question

How can retrieve the two highest item from a list containing 100,000 integers without having to sort the entire list first?

Answer 1

my_list = [20, 1, 9, 5, 10, 3, 4, 2, 11, 21, 2]

max2 = 0
max1 = 0
for i in my_list:
    if i > max1:
        max1 = i
    elif max2 < i < max1:
        max2 = i

print(f'max1: {max1}; max2: {max2}')
max1: 21; max2: 11