Best Book - codepath/compsci_guides GitHub Wiki

Unit 2 Session 1 (Click for link to problem statements)

U-nderstand

Understand what the interviewer is asking for by using test cases and questions about the problem.

• Is it possible for the list to be empty?
  • Yes. In that case, your code should return None.

P-lan

Plan the solution with appropriate visualizations and pseudocode.

General Idea: Loop through a list of dictionaries and find the one with the highest value for "rating".

1) If the list is empty, return None
2) Assume the first book is the highest rated (so far)
3) For each book after the first:
  a) If the book has a higher rating, set that book
     as the new highest rated
4) Once all books are checked, return the highest rated book we found

⚠️ Common Mistakes

• Pay attention to your syntax and make sure you return the entire book, not just its rating!

I-mplement

def highest_rated(books):
    "
    Returns the book with the highest rating from 
    a list of dictionaries representing books.
    Each dictionary contains the book's title, author, and rating.
    "
    if not books:  # Check if the list is empty
        return None

    highest_rated_book = books[0]  # Assume the first book is the highest rated initially
    for book in books[1:]:  # Start checking from the second book
        if book['rating'] > highest_rated_book['rating']:
            highest_rated_book = book  # Update the highest rated book

    return highest_rated_book