Another way to do it, assuming that the list can be mutated: find the largest number in the array, store it somewhere and remove it from the list. Do this a sec

Another way to do it, assuming that the list can be mutated: find the largest number in the array, store it somewhere and remove it from the list. Do this a second time. Then add those two numbers. It evades sorting the array, but you have to search it twice. a = [7, 9, 2, 8] highest = max(a) a.remove(highest) nexthighest = max(a) a.remove(nexthighest) print highest + nexthighest Optimisation: just scan the array once, and keep track of the two highest numbers. a = [7, 9, 2, 8] highest = None nexthighest = None for item in a: if not highest or item > highest: highest = item elif not nexthighest or item > nexthighest: nexthighest = item print highest + nexthighest