Python any()

The any() built-in function takes in an iterable object such as a list or tuple and returns True if any of the elements in the iterable are true. If none of the elements present in the iterable are true, any() will return False.

Syntax

any(iterable)

The iterable is any sequence or collection that can be traversed, such as a dictionary or list.

The inside of the pseudocode can be broken down in the following way:

def any(iterable):
  for element in iterable:
    if element:
      return True
  return False

Inside the loop, at the first instance of an element existing in the iterable, execution will stop and True will be returned. If the end of the loop is reached and the element is not found, False is returned instead.

Example

In the following example, the any() function is used to return a boolean after checking a list and a dictionary:

print(any([True, 0, False]))
print(any({0 : "Off"}))

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The following output will be printed to the shell:

True
False

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Codebyte Example

In the example below, a team of Pokemon are created in preparation for a battle. They are selected based on various properties such as "level" and "type(s)". The any() function is ultimately used to pick out the Pokemon that meet that criteria:

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