Python Alternatives to Global Variables

Question

import random  

#----------------------------------------------#
def main():  
    create_list_and_find_max_and_min(10)  
    the_smart_way()
#---------------------         


        

Answer 1

Functions do things to objects and then return results. You want to keep functions dead-simple and perform all of your logic and processing outside of the function. This will remove the need for global variables and will make your code much, much easier to read.

That being said, here is how I would attack your problem:

import random  

def random_list(n=None):
  n = n or int(raw_input('How many numbers do you want in your list? '))    

  return [random.randint(1, n) for i in range(n)]

if __name__ == '__main__':
  my_list = random_list(10)
  minimum, maximum = min(my_list), max(my_list)

  print 'My list is ', my_list
  print 'The minimum value in the list is ', minimum
  print 'The maximum value in the list is ', maximum