def common_start(sa, sb):
""" returns the longest common substring from the beginning of sa and sb """
def _iter():
for a, b in zip(sa, sb):
if a == b:
yield a
else:
return
return ''.join(_iter())
>>> common_start("apple pie available", "apple pies")
'apple pie'
Or a slightly stranger way:
def stop_iter():
"""An easy way to break out of a generator"""
raise StopIteration
def common_start(sa, sb):
return ''.join(a if a == b else stop_iter() for a, b in zip(sa, sb))
Which might be more readable as
def terminating(cond):
"""An easy way to break out of a generator"""
if cond:
return True
raise StopIteration
def common_start(sa, sb):
return ''.join(a for a, b in zip(sa, sb) if terminating(a == b))