finding similar objects in a list

[volcano63]

I am new to python and programming in general.I wanted to write a code which prints the similar elements from 2 lists .For example if a=[1,2,3,4,5] and b=[0,2,4,6] , I would want a c=[2,4]. Here is what I did:

def simi(a,b):
    a,b,c=[],[],[]
    for i in a:
        for j in b:
            if i==j:
                c.append(i)
            else:
                continue
    return (c)

• In your function, you overwrite a and b, you have to initialize only c
  
• If you find an equal element - you can stop the search
  

             if i==j:
                 c.append(i)
                 break

• You don't need else for an empty action - if may exist without else. You only use continue if you have more code in the loop that you want to bypass - and even then it is not advised (unless you want to avoid indenting large block of code)
  
• It is more efficient to check the presence of an element in a list with an operator in
  
• One-letter names are bad practice (with very few exceptions). Variable names are a part of the code documentation, and should tell the code reader their purpose. It is advisable to acquire the habit of naming your variables properly early in the study process
  

So this is how your function should look like

def similar_elements(list1, list2):
    similars = []
    for elem in list1:
        if elem in list2:
            similars.append(elem)
    return similars

Of course, experienced Pythonista would write it at least as

[elem for elem in list1 if elem in list2]

and there are couple of other ways to write it - but that will come in the future.

Good luck with your studies!