Python: Determine the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of monotonic sequence numbers

Last update on May 28 2022 13:41:20 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Python Programming Puzzles: Exercise-20 with Solution

Monotonic sequences are sequences, which constantly increase or constantly decrease.
Write a Python program to determine the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of monotonic sequence numbers.

Input:
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Output:
Increasing.

Input:
[6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
Output:
Decreasing.

Input:
[19, 19, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5]
Output:
Not a monotonic sequence!

Pictorial Presentation:

Python: Determine the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of monotonic sequence numbers.

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

#License: https://bit.ly/3oLErEI
def test(nums):
    return "Increasing." if all(nums[i] < nums[i + 1] for i in range(len(nums) - 1)) else \
        "Decreasing." if all(nums[i + 1] < nums[i] for i in range(len(nums) - 1)) else \
        "Not a monotonic sequence!"
nums = [1,2,3,4,5,6]
print("Original list:")
print(nums)
print("Check the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of the said list:")
print(test(nums))
nums = [6,5,4,3,2,1]
print("\nOriginal list:")
print(nums)
print("Check the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of the said list:")
print(test(nums))
nums = [19,19,5,5,5,5,5]
print("\nOriginal list:")
print(nums)
print("Check the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of the said list:")
print(test(nums))

Sample Output:

Original list:
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Check the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of the said list:
Increasing.

Original list:
[6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
Check the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of the said list:
Decreasing.

Original list:
[19, 19, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5]
Check the direction ('increasing' or 'decreasing') of the said list:
Not a monotonic sequence!

Flowchart:

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Python: Tips of the Day

Find current directory and file's directory:

To get the full path to the directory a Python file is contained in, write this in that file:

import os dir_path = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__))

(Note that the incantation above won't work if you've already used os.chdir() to change your current working directory, since the value of the __file__ constant is relative to the current working directory and is not changed by an os.chdir() call.)

To get the current working directory use

import os cwd = os.getcwd()

Documentation references for the modules, constants and functions used above:

The os and os.path modules.

The __file__ constant

os.path.realpath(path) (returns "the canonical path of the specified filename, eliminating any symbolic links encountered in the path")

os.path.dirname(path) (returns "the directory name of pathname path")

os.getcwd() (returns "a string representing the current working directory")

os.chdir(path) ("change the current working directory to path")

Ref: https://bit.ly/3fy0R6m