finding the largest or smallest n items

example.py

# example.py
#
# Example of using heapq to find the N smallest or largest items

import heapq

portfolio = [
   {'name': 'IBM', 'shares': 100, 'price': 91.1},
   {'name': 'AAPL', 'shares': 50, 'price': 543.22},
   {'name': 'FB', 'shares': 200, 'price': 21.09},
   {'name': 'HPQ', 'shares': 35, 'price': 31.75},
   {'name': 'YHOO', 'shares': 45, 'price': 16.35},
   {'name': 'ACME', 'shares': 75, 'price': 115.65}
]

cheap = heapq.nsmallest(3, portfolio, key=lambda s: s['price'])
expensive = heapq.nlargest(3, portfolio, key=lambda s: s['price'])

print(cheap)
print(expensive)