from list of tuples, get tuple closest to a given value

Question

Given a list of tuples containing coordinates, I want to find which coordinate is the closest to a coordinate I give in input:

cooList = [(11.6702634, 72.313         


        

Answer 1

For your data

cooList = [(11.6702634, 72.313323), (31.67342698, 78.465323)]
coordinate = (11.6702698, 78.113323)

the shortest Pythonic answer is:

nearest = min(cooList, key=lambda x: distance(x, coordinate))

with a function distance(a, b) returning the distance between the points a and b as a float, which you have to define yourself.

Now you have to decide how you calculate the distance: using simple a² + b² = c², some geographical formula or a dedicated library.