A function returning the first matched item in a sequence, or None.

gistfile1.py

def first_match(seq, pred=None, default=None):
    """
    Obtain the first item in `seq` where `pred` returns True, otherwise return
    `default`.

    If no `pred` is supplied, then the first value in seq will be returned. If
    no `default` is supplied and no matching value is found in `seq`, then
    `None` will be returned instead.

    :param seq:     A sequence or iterable to obtain an item from.
    :param pred:    A predicate function, taking one argument and returning True
                    if the item matches the required condition, or
                    False otherwise.
    :param default: The value to be returned if no matching values are obtained
    :return:    The first matching value, or `default` if no matching values
                are found.
    """
    if pred is None:
        pred = lambda x: True
    return next((x for x in seq if pred(x)), default)

I wrote this, if anyone has any questions :)