Python: Find the longest one from any number of iterable objects or objects with a length property

Last update on April 19 2025 12:57:51 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Find Longest Iterable

Write a Python program that takes any number of iterable objects or objects with a length property and returns the longest one.

Use max() with len() as the key to return the item with the greatest length.
If multiple objects have the same length, the first one will be returned.

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

# Define a function 'longest_item' that takes a variable number of arguments (*args).
# It returns the argument with the maximum length using the 'max' function and 'len' as the key function.
def longest_item(*args):
    return max(args, key=len)

# Call the 'longest_item' function with different arguments and print the results.
print(longest_item('this', 'is', 'a', 'Green'))
print(longest_item([1, 2, 3], [1, 2], [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]))
print(longest_item([1, 2, 3, 4], 'Red'))

Sample Output:

Green
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
[1, 2, 3, 4]

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a Python program that takes several iterable objects and returns the one with the greatest length, using custom comparison if needed.
Write a Python program to determine the longest iterable among a mix of lists, tuples, and strings, and output its type.
Write a Python program to find the iterable with the highest sum of elements among those provided, assuming numeric content.
Write a Python program that accepts multiple iterables and returns the longest one, breaking ties by the first occurrence.

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