Question

Write a snippet of Python code that uses a while loop to determine the maximum value in the list. Do not make use of built-in functions to determine the maximum value (i.e., craft an efficient algorithm that does so manually); however, you may use a built-in function to get the size of the list.

Answer 1

To find the maximum value in a list using a while loop in Python, you can compare each element to a variable that stores the current maximum value and update it if necessary.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the maximum value in a list using a while loop in Python, you can initialize a variable, let's call it max_value, to the first element in the list. Then, you can iterate through the list using a while loop and compare each element to the current max_value. If an element is greater than max_value, update max_value to that element. Here's a code snippet that demonstrates this:

def find_max_value(my_list):
max_value = my_list[0]
i = 1
while i < len(my_list):
if my_list[i] > max_value:
max_value = my_list[i]
i += 1
return max_value

my_list = [10, 2, 5, 8, 3]
print(find_max_value(my_list))

In this example, the while loop iterates through each element in the list. If an element is greater than max_value, max_value is updated. Finally, the function returns the maximum value in the list.