Recursive function on sublist returning None

Question

I\'m running a recursive function on sublist to search the element check_value in the list once it finds it, it verifies whether other_value is the first item of the correspondi

Answer 1

I believe you structured your logic incorrectly, looking for other_value after the opportunity has passed. Here's an alternate way to structure this:

def check_with_list(structure, check_value, other_value=None):

    for index, item in enumerate(structure):
        path = (index,)

        if isinstance(item, list):

            sub_path = check_with_list(item, check_value, other_value)

            if sub_path is not None:

                path += sub_path

                if other_value and check_value in item:

                    if item[0] == other_value:
                        return path
                else:
                    return path

        elif item == check_value:
            return path

    return None  # value not found

dd = [
    "gcc",
    "fcc",
    ["scc", "jhh", "rrr"],
    ["www", "rrr", "rrr"],
    "mmm",
    ["qwe", ["ree", "rer", "rrr"], "ere"]
]

print(check_with_list(dd, "rrr", "ree"))

OUTPUT

> python3 test.py
(5, 1, 2)
>