First tuple value in tuples list based on second value

Question

How can I get the first value of a tuple in a tuples list where second value is the minor?

mylist = [(a, date_a), (b, date_b), ..., (z, date_z)]

If date_d is the minor of all dates how can I get d ?

Answer 1

The min builtin actually accepts an optional key callable as a parameter, just like sorted , where it is more known.

which means you can customize what does it mean to be "minimal" for your sequence:

min_item = min(mylist, key item: item[1])[0]