I have a long list of variables to define (~100). Define as follows:
provider = node.xpath("//provider/text()")[0]
language = node.xpath("//language/text()")[0]
subtype = node.xpath("//subtype/text()")[0]
etc...
How would I define it more concisely/DRY, something like -
COLUMN_VARIABLES = ['provider', 'language','subtype']
for variable in COLUMN_VARIABLES:
variable = node.xpath("//%s/text()"%variable)[0]
The more concise way to do this would be to use a dictionary:
COLUMN_VARIABLES = ['provider', 'language','subtype']
data = {}
for variable in COLUMN_VARIABLES:
data[variable] = node.xpath("//%s/text()"%variable)[0]
Pro tip: any time you find yourself wanting to use variable variable names, it means you don't want variables, you want one container to hold all that data instead.
Use a dictionary:
COLUMN_VARIABLES = ['provider', 'language','subtype']
vars = {}
for variable in COLUMN_VARIABLES:
vars[variable] = node.xpath("//%s/text()"%variable)[0]
Use a dict to hold the results:
column_vars = ['provider', 'language','subtype']
nodes = {}
for var in column_vars:
nodes[var] = node.xpath("//%s/text()" % variable)[0]
