Python - Joining only adjacent words in list

In this article, we are going to learn how to join adjacent words in a list while keeping digits separate. This technique is useful when processing mixed data that contains both text and numeric values.

Approach

To solve this problem, we need to ?

• Initialize the list with mixed string and numeric elements
• Separate words from digits using isalpha() and isdigit() methods
• Join all the words together using the join() method
• Add all digits to the result list while maintaining their order

Using List Comprehension

The most straightforward approach uses list comprehension to separate words and digits ?

# initializing the list
strings = ['Tutorials', '56', '45', 'point', '1', '4']

# result list
result = []

# separate words and digits
words = [element for element in strings if element.isalpha()]
digits = [element for element in strings if element.isdigit()]

# join words and add to result
result.append("".join(words))
result += digits

# printing the result
print(result)

The output of the above code is ?

['Tutorialspoint', '56', '45', '1', '4']

Using Filter Method

An alternative approach uses the filter() method with helper functions to separate elements ?

# initializing the list
strings = ['Tutorials', '56', '45', 'point', '1', '4']

def is_alpha(string):
    return string.isalpha()

def is_digit(string):
    return string.isdigit()

# create result using filter and unpacking
result = ["".join(filter(is_alpha, strings)), *filter(is_digit, strings)]

# printing the result
print(result)

The output of the above code is ?

['Tutorialspoint', '56', '45', '1', '4']

Comparison

Conclusion

Both methods effectively join adjacent words while preserving digits separately. The list comprehension approach is more readable, while the filter method offers a functional programming style for the same result.