Sum of two numbers with default maximum value that cannot be exceeded

Question

Suppose that I have a numeric variable which will have another value added to it, but I want to make sure that this variable never exceeds a maximum value, and upon being exceeded, will simply default to the maximum value.

For example, given a maximum value of 100, and a function which does this which is called maxadd:

input1 = 90
input2 = 8
maxadd(input1, input2, 100)
>>> 98

input1 = 95
input2 = 8
maxadd(input1, input2, 100)
>>> 100

I could just define it as a normal function like this:

def maxadd(a, b, _max):
    res = a + b
    if res > _max:
        return _max
    return res

But I feel like it could be done in a single line, maybe with a lambda. I can't seem to figure anything out though. Performance is also a concern so I would like the fastest solution possible, and I feel like this function may be taking unnecessary steps

Georgy · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-09 09:43:30Z

9

You can use min(a + b, max_value).

edited Mar 9, 2020 at 9:43

Georgy

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answered Mar 5, 2020 at 13:18

Sanchit.Jain

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Comments

kaya3 · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-05 13:18:42Z

6

Logically, you want to return either a + b or _max, whichever is smaller. So you can use the built-in function min for this:

def maxadd(a, b, _max):
    return min(a + b, _max)

answered Mar 5, 2020 at 13:18

kaya3

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Comments

Thomas Schillaci · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-05 13:18:54Z

2

If you want to use a lambda:

 f = lambda a, b, max_: min(a + b, max_)

For example:

f(90, 8, 100)

98

f(95, 8, 100)

100

answered Mar 5, 2020 at 13:18

Thomas Schillaci

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2 Comments

Scott Hunter Over a year ago

How does using lambda (as opposed to def f(...) make a difference?

kaya3 Over a year ago

The difference is that using a lambda means the name f won't be included in the stack trace if it throws an exception (e.g. when calling f(1, 2, None)). That's undesirable, so generally if a function has a name then it shouldn't be a lambda.

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