How Can I Efficiently Check if a String Matches Any of Many Strings in Python?

Comparing a String to Numerous Items in Python

Challenge:

Suppose we have a string, termed 'facility,' and a collection of valid strings. The objective is to ascertain whether 'facility' coincides with any of these legitimate strings in an efficient manner.

Solution:

To avoid the conventional approach of using multiple 'if' statements, consider leveraging a set.

Code:

accepted_strings = {'auth', 'authpriv', 'daemon', '(any number of additional strings)'}

if facility in accepted_strings:
    # Execute desired actions

Benefit:

Testing for containment within a set has an average time complexity of O(1). This method is significantly more efficient than using a series of 'if' statements when dealing with large lists of valid strings.

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