How do I sum the first value in each tuple in a list of tuples in Python?

Question

I have a list of tuples (always pairs) like this:

[(0, 1), (2, 3), (5, 7), (2, 1)]

I\'d like to find the sum of the first items in each pai

Answer 1

sum(i for i, j in list_of_pairs)

will do too.

Answer 2

I recommend:

sum(i for i, _ in list_of_pairs)

Note:

Using the variable _(or __ to avoid confliction with the alias of gettext) instead of j has at least two benefits:

1. _(which stands for placeholder) has better readability
2. pylint won't complain: "Unused variable 'j'"