w3resource

Python: Check if two lists contain the same elements regardless of order

Python List: Exercise - 257 with Solution

Compare Lists for Same Elements

Write a Python program to check if two given lists contain the same elements regardless of order.

  • Use set() on the combination of both lists to find the unique values.
  • Iterate over them with a for loop comparing the count() of each unique value in each list.
  • Return False if the counts do not match for any element, True otherwise.

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

# Define a function to check if two lists contain the same elements regardless of order.
def check_same_contents(nums1, nums2):
    # Loop through the set of elements in the combined lists.
    for x in set(nums1 + nums2):
        # Check if the count of element 'x' in nums1 is not equal to the count of 'x' in nums2.
        if nums1.count(x) != nums2.count(x):
            return False  # If counts are not equal, the lists do not have the same contents.
    return True  # If all counts are equal for all elements, the lists have the same contents.
	
# Example 1
nums1 = [1, 2, 4]
nums2 = [2, 4, 1]
print("Original list elements:")
print(nums1)
print(nums2)
print("\nCheck two said lists contain the same elements regardless of order!")
print(check_same_contents(nums1, nums2))

# Example 2
nums1 = [1, 2, 3]
nums2 = [1, 2, 3]
print("\nOriginal list elements:")
print(nums1)
print(nums2)
print("\nCheck two said lists contain the same elements regardless of order!")
print(check_same_contents(nums1, nums2))

# Example 3
nums1 = [1, 2, 3]
nums2 = [1, 2, 4]
print("\nOriginal list elements:")
print(nums1)
print(nums2)
print("\nCheck two said lists contain the same elements regardless of order!")
print(check_same_contents(nums1, nums2)) 

Sample Output:

Original list elements:
[1, 2, 4]
[2, 4, 1]

Check two said lists contain the same elements regardless of order!
True

Original list elements:
[1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 3]

Check two said lists contain the same elements regardless of order!
True

Original list elements:
[1, 2, 3]
[1, 2, 4]

Check two said lists contain the same elements regardless of order!
False

Flowchart:

Flowchart: Check if two lists contain the same elements regardless of order.

Python Code Editor:

Previous: Write a Python program to get the powerset of a given iterable.
Next: Write a Python program to create a given flat list of all the keys in a flat dictionary.

What is the difficulty level of this exercise?

Test your Programming skills with w3resource's quiz.



Become a Patron!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for latest update.

It will be nice if you may share this link in any developer community or anywhere else, from where other developers may find this content. Thanks.

https://www.w3resource.com/python-exercises/list/python-data-type-list-exercise-257.php