A safe max() function for empty lists

Question

Evaluating,

max_val = max(a)

will cause the error,

ValueError: max() arg is an empty sequence

Is there a better way of safeguarding against this error other than a try, except catch?

a = []
try:
    max_val = max(a)
except ValueError:
    max_val = default 

Answer 1

_DEFAULT = object()

def max_default(*args, **kwargs):
    """
    Adds support for "default" keyword argument when iterable is empty.
    Works for any iterable, any default value, and any Python version (versions >= 3.4
    support "default" parameter natively).

    Default keyword used only when iterable is empty:

    >>> max_default([], default=42)
    42

    >>> max_default([3], default=42)
    3

    All original functionality is preserved:

    >>> max_default([])
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    ValueError: max() arg is an empty sequence

    >>> max_default(3, 42)
    42
    """

    default = kwargs.pop('default', _DEFAULT)
    try:
        return max(*args, **kwargs)
    except ValueError:
        if default is _DEFAULT:
            raise
        return default

Bonus:

def min_default(*args, **kwargs):
    """
    Adds support for "default" keyword argument when iterable is empty.
    Works for any iterable, any default value, and any Python version (versions >= 3.4
    support "default" parameter natively).

    Default keyword used only when iterable is empty:

    >>> min_default([], default=42)
    42

    >>> min_default([3], default=42)
    3

    All original functionality is preserved:

    >>> min_default([])
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    ValueError: min() arg is an empty sequence

    >>> min_default(3, 42)
    3
    """

    default = kwargs.pop('default', _DEFAULT)
    try:
        return min(*args, **kwargs)
    except ValueError:
        if default is _DEFAULT:
            raise
        return default