Python:Update list of tuples

Question

I have a list of tuples like this:

list = [(1, 'q'), (2, 'w'), (3, 'e'), (4, 'r')]

and i am trying to create a update function update(item,num) which search the item in the list and then change the num.

for example if i use update(w,6) the result would be

list =   [(1, 'q'), (6, 'w'), (3, 'e'), (4, 'r')]

i tried this code but i had error

if item in heap:
        heap.remove(item)
        Pushheap(item,num)
    else:
        Pushheap(item,num)

Pushheap is a function that push tuples in the heap any ideas?

Answer 1

You can simply scan through the list looking for a tuple with the desired letter and replace the whole tuple (you can't modify tuples), breaking out of the loop when you've found the required item. Eg,

lst = [(1, 'q'), (2, 'w'), (3, 'e'), (4, 'r')]

def update(item, num):
    for i, t in enumerate(lst):
        if t[1] == item:
            lst[i] = num, item
            break

update('w', 6)
print(lst)

output

[(1, 'q'), (6, 'w'), (3, 'e'), (4, 'r')]

However, you should seriously consider using a dictionary instead of a list of tuples. Searching a dictionary is much more efficient than doing a linear scan over a list.