h = []
heapq.heappush(h,(10, 1200))
heapq.heappush(h,(20, 31))
heapq.heappush(h,(5, 1))

if len(h) < capacity:
    heapq.heappush(h, thing)
else:
    # Equivalent to a push, then a pop, but faster
    spilled_value = heapq.heappushpop(h, thing)
    do_whatever_with(spilled_value)

from heapq import heapify, heappush, heappushpop

class MaxHeap():
    def __init__(self, top_n):
        self.h = []
        self.length = top_n
        heapify( self.h)

    def add(self, element):
        if len(self.h) < self.length:
            heappush(self.h, element)
        else:
            heappushpop(self.h, element)

    def getTop(self):
        return sorted(self.h, reverse=True)