Python Lists

Python Lists are just like dynamically sized arrays, declared in other languages (vector
in C++ and ArrayList in Java). In simple language, a list is a collection of things,
enclosed in [ ] and separated by commas.
The list is a sequence data type which is used to store the collection of data. Tuples and
String are other types of sequence data types.

Example of list in Python

Here we are creating a Python List using [].
Python3

Var = ["Geeks", "for", "Geeks"]

print(Var)

Output:
["Geeks", "for", "Geeks"]
Lists are the simplest containers that are an integral part of the Python language. Lists
need not be homogeneous always which makes it the most powerful tool in Python. A
single list may contain DataTypes like Integers, Strings, as well as Objects. Lists are
mutable, and hence, they can be altered even after their creation.
Creating a List in Python
Lists in Python can be created by just placing the sequence inside the square brackets[].
Example 1: Creating a list in Python
 # Python program to demonstrate
# Creating a List
List = []
print("Blank List: ")
print(List)
# Creating a List of numbers
List = [10, 20, 14]
print("\nList of numbers: ")
print(List)

# Creating a List of strings and accessing

# using index
List = ["Geeks", "For", "Geeks"]
print("\nList Items: ")
print(List[0])
print(List[2])

Output
Blank List:
[]

List of numbers:
[10, 20, 14]

List Items:
Geeks
Geeks

Example 2: Creating a list with multiple distinct or duplicate elements

A list may contain duplicate values with their distinct positions and hence, multiple
distinct or duplicate values can be passed as a sequence at the time of list creation.
 # Creating a List with
# the use of Numbers
# (Having duplicate values)
List = [1, 2, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 6, 5]
print("\nList with the use of Numbers: ")
print(List)

# Creating a List with

# mixed type of values
# (Having numbers and strings)
List = [1, 2, 'Geeks', 4, 'For', 6, 'Geeks']
print("\nList with the use of Mixed Values: ")
print(List)

Output
List with the use of Numbers:
[1, 2, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 6, 5]

List with the use of Mixed Values:

[1, 2, 'Geeks', 4, 'For', 6, 'Geeks']

Accessing elements from the List

In order to access the list items refer to the index number. Use the index operator [ ] to
access an item in a list. The index must be an integer. Nested lists are accessed using
nested indexing.
Example 1: Accessing elements from list
 # Python program to demonstrate
# accessing of element from list

# Creating a List with

# the use of multiple values
List = ["Geeks", "For", "Geeks"]

# accessing a element from the

# list using index number
print("Accessing a element from the list")
print(List[0])
print(List[2])

Output
Accessing a element from the list
Geeks
Geeks

Example 2: Accessing elements from a multidimensional list

Python3

# Creating a Multi-Dimensional List

# (By Nesting a list inside a List)
List = [['Geeks', 'For'], ['Geeks']]

# accessing an element from the

# Multi-Dimensional List using
# index number
print("Accessing a element from a Multi-Dimensional list")
print(List[0][1])
print(List[1][0])

Output
Accessing a element from a Multidimensional list
For
Geeks
Negative indexing

In Python, negative sequence indexes represent positions from the end of the array.
Instead of having to compute the offset as in List[len(List)-3], it is enough to just write
List[-3]. Negative indexing means beginning from the end, -1 refers to the last item, -2
refers to the second-last item, etc.

List = [1, 2, 'Geeks', 4, 'For', 6, 'Geeks']

# accessing an element using

# negative indexing
print("Accessing element using negative indexing")

# print the last element of list

print(List[-1])

# print the third last element of list

print(List[-3])

Output
Accessing element using negative indexing
Geeks
For

Getting the size of Python list

Python len() is used to get the length of the list.
 # Creating a List
List1 = []
print(len(List1))

# Creating a List of numbers

List2 = [10, 20, 14]
print(len(List2))

Output
0
3

Taking Input of a Python List

We can take the input of a list of elements as string, integer, float, etc. But the default one
is a string.

Example 1:
Python3

# Python program to take space

# separated input as a string
# split and store it to a list
# and print the string list

# input the list as string

string = input("Enter elements (Space-Separated): ")

# split the strings and store it to a list

lst = string.split()
print('The list is:', lst) # printing the list

Output:
Enter elements: GEEKS FOR GEEKS
The list is: ['GEEKS', 'FOR', 'GEEKS']
Example 2:
Python

# input size of the list

n = int(input("Enter the size of list : "))
# store integers in a list using map,
# split and strip functions
lst = list(map(int, input("Enter the integer\
elements:").strip().split()))[:n]

# printing the list

print('The list is:', lst)

Output:
Enter the size of list : 4
Enter the integer elements: 6 3 9 10
The list is: [6, 3, 9, 10]
Adding Elements to a Python List

Method 1: Using append() method

Elements can be added to the List by using the built-in append() function. Only one
element at a time can be added to the list by using the append() method, for the addition
of multiple elements with the append() method, loops are used. Tuples can also be added
to the list with the use of the append method because tuples are immutable. Unlike Sets,
Lists can also be added to the existing list with the use of the append() method.
Python3
 # Python program to demonstrate
# Addition of elements in a List

# Creating a List
List = []
print("Initial blank List: ")
print(List)

# Addition of Elements
# in the List
List.append(1)
List.append(2)
List.append(4)
print("\nList after Addition of Three elements: ")
print(List)

# Adding elements to the List

# using Iterator
for i in range(1, 4):
List.append(i)
print("\nList after Addition of elements from 1-3: ")
print(List)

# Adding Tuples to the List

List.append((5, 6))
print("\nList after Addition of a Tuple: ")
print(List)

# Addition of List to a List

List2 = ['For', 'Geeks']
List.append(List2)
print("\nList after Addition of a List: ")
print(List)

Output
Initial blank List:
[]

List after Addition of Three elements:

[1, 2, 4]

List after Addition of elements from 1-3:

[1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3]

List after Addition of a Tuple:

[1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, (5, 6)]

List after Addition of a List:

[1, 2, 4, 1, 2, 3, (5, 6), ['For', 'Geeks']]

Method 2: Using insert() method

append() method only works for the addition of elements at the end of the List, for the
addition of elements at the desired position, insert() method is used. Unlike append()
which takes only one argument, the insert() method requires two arguments(position,
value).
Python3

# Python program to demonstrate

# Addition of elements in a List

# Creating a List
List = [1,2,3,4]
print("Initial List: ")
print(List)

# Addition of Element at
# specific Position
# (using Insert Method)
List.insert(3, 12)
 List.insert(0, 'Geeks')
print("\nList after performing Insert Operation: ")
print(List)

Output
Initial List:
[1, 2, 3, 4]

List after performing Insert Operation:

['Geeks', 1, 2, 3, 12, 4]

Method 3: Using extend() method

Other than append() and insert() methods, there’s one more method for the Addition of
elements, extend(), this method is used to add multiple elements at the same time at the
end of the list.
Note: append() and extend() methods can only add elements at the end.
Python3

# Python program to demonstrate

# Addition of elements in a List

# Creating a List
List = [1, 2, 3, 4]
print("Initial List: ")
print(List)

# Addition of multiple elements

# to the List at the end
# (using Extend Method)
List.extend([8, 'Geeks', 'Always'])
print("\nList after performing Extend Operation: ")
print(List)

Output
Initial List:
[1, 2, 3, 4]
List after performing Extend Operation:
[1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 'Geeks', 'Always']
Reversing a List
Method 1: A list can be reversed by using the reverse() method in Python.
Python3

# Reversing a list
mylist = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 'Geek', 'Python']
mylist.reverse()
print(mylist)

Output
['Python', 'Geek', 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]

Method 2: Using the reversed() function:

The reversed() function returns a reverse iterator, which can be converted to a list using
the list() function.
Python3

my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
reversed_list = list(reversed(my_list))
print(reversed_list)

Output
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]

Removing Elements from the List

Method 1: Using remove() method
Elements can be removed from the List by using the built-in remove() function but an
Error arises if the element doesn’t exist in the list. Remove() method only removes one
element at a time, to remove a range of elements, the iterator is used. The remove()
method removes the specified item.
Note: Remove method in List will only remove the first occurrence of the searched
element.
Example 1:
Python3
 # Python program to demonstrate
# Removal of elements in a List

# Creating a List
List = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
print("Initial List: ")
print(List)

# Removing elements from List

# using Remove() method
List.remove(5)
List.remove(6)
print("\nList after Removal of two elements: ")
print(List)

Output
Initial List:
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

List after Removal of two elements:

[1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Example 2:
Python3

# Creating a List
List = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
# Removing elements from List
# using iterator method
for i in range(1, 5):
List.remove(i)
print("\nList after Removing a range of elements: ")
print(List)
Output
List after Removing a range of elements:
[5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Method 2: Using pop() method

pop() function can also be used to remove and return an element from the list, but by
default it removes only the last element of the list, to remove an element from a specific
position of the List, the index of the element is passed as an argument to the pop()
method.
Python3

List = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Removing element from the

# Set using the pop() method
List.pop()
print("\nList after popping an element: ")
print(List)

# Removing element at a
# specific location from the
# Set using the pop() method
List.pop(2)
print("\nList after popping a specific element: ")
print(List)

Output
List after popping an element:
[1, 2, 3, 4]

List after popping a specific element:

[1, 2, 4]
 Slicing of a List
We can get substrings and sublists using a slice. In Python List, there are multiple ways to
print the whole list with all the elements, but to print a specific range of elements from
the list, we use the Slice operation.
Slice operation is performed on Lists with the use of a colon(:).
To print elements from beginning to a range use:
[: Index]
To print elements from end-use:
[:-Index]
To print elements from a specific Index till the end use
[Index:]
To print the whole list in reverse order, use
[::-1]
Note – To print elements of List from rear-end, use Negative Indexes.

UNDERSTANDING SLICING OF LISTS:

● pr[0] accesses the first item, 2.
● pr[-4] accesses the fourth item from the end, 5.
● pr[2:] accesses [5, 7, 11, 13], a list of items from third to last.
● pr[:4] accesses [2, 3, 5, 7], a list of items from first to fourth.
● pr[2:4] accesses [5, 7], a list of items from third to fifth.
● pr[1::2] accesses [3, 7, 13], alternate items, starting from the second item.
Python3
 # Python program to demonstrate
# Removal of elements in a List

# Creating a List
List = ['G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S', 'F',
'O', 'R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S']
print("Initial List: ")
print(List)

# Print elements of a range

# using Slice operation
Sliced_List = List[3:8]
print("\nSlicing elements in a range 3-8: ")
print(Sliced_List)

# Print elements from a

# pre-defined point to end
Sliced_List = List[5:]
print("\nElements sliced from 5th "
"element till the end: ")
print(Sliced_List)

# Printing elements from

# beginning till end
Sliced_List = List[:]
print("\nPrinting all elements using slice operation: ")
print(Sliced_List)

Output
Initial List:
['G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S', 'F', 'O', 'R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S']

Slicing elements in a range 3-8:

['K', 'S', 'F', 'O', 'R']
Elements sliced from 5th element till the end:
['F', 'O', 'R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S']

Printing all elements using slice operation:

['G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S', 'F', 'O', 'R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S']

Negative index List slicing

Python3

# Creating a List
List = ['G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S', 'F',
'O', 'R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S']
print("Initial List: ")
print(List)

# Print elements from beginning

# to a pre-defined point using Slice
Sliced_List = List[:-6]
print("\nElements sliced till 6th element from last: ")
print(Sliced_List)

# Print elements of a range

# using negative index List slicing
Sliced_List = List[-6:-1]
print("\nElements sliced from index -6 to -1")
print(Sliced_List)

# Printing elements in reverse

# using Slice operation
Sliced_List = List[::-1]
print("\nPrinting List in reverse: ")
print(Sliced_List)

Output
Initial List:
['G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S', 'F', 'O', 'R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S']
Elements sliced till 6th element from last:
['G', 'E', 'E', 'K', 'S', 'F', 'O']

Elements sliced from index -6 to -1

['R', 'G', 'E', 'E', 'K']

Printing List in reverse:

['S', 'K', 'E', 'E', 'G', 'R', 'O', 'F', 'S', 'K', 'E', 'E', 'G']

Python List sort() Method

The sort() method sorts the list ascending by default.

You can also make a function to decide the sorting criteria(s).

Syntax

list.sort(reverse=True|False, key=myFunc)

Parameter Values

Parameter Description

reverse Optional. reverse=True will sort the list descending. Default is

reverse=False

key Optional. A function to specify the sorting criteria(s)

Searching an Element in a List

To locate the index or position of the element in a list is important when trying
to access, manipulate or delete specific items from the list. Read further to learn
how to search an element in a list using python.

The examples mentioned below help you to understand how to enter a list of
elements and then search for a particular item within that list. This helps in
finding items rapidly, as you no longer have to go through them manually one
by one.

Here, we have given a list of numbers and we have to search an element from a
list by using different methods. There eight methods to remove a subset from a
list.

​ Using in operator
​ Using if else statement
​ Using loop
​ Using any()
​ Using find()
​ Using counter()
​ Using count()

Using“ if else”Statement
To find an element in a list using an if-else statement, simply loop through each
element in the list and check if it is equal to the element you are looking for. It
returns True if the condition is satisfied or, false otherwise.

Example
In the following example, we are using “if else” statement to search for the
element in the list given below. The list is created with six elements, the
variable ‘i’ is set to equal “arun”. Now, the if-else statement comes into scenario
and checks whether or not the value of ‘I’ exists in the list.

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
i="arun"
if i in lst:
print("exist")
else:
print("not exist")

Output
Following is the output for the above program, when executed -

exist

Example
In the following example, we are using the if-else statement to search for the
element “arjun” which is set by variable i. Here, the list 'lst' contains 6 strings.

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
i="arjun"
if i in lst:
print("exist")
else:
print("not exist")

Output
Following is the output, when we execute the above code.

not exist
Here, we have two programs in both we have used “ if else” statement to
finding an element .In first program the we have search “arun” element that
exists in a list .so, outcome comes as “exist”. And in second we have to search
an item “arjun’ which does not exist in a list. So,output comes as “not exist’

Using in Operator
The in operator is useful for finding an element in a list. It checks whether a
given element is in the list or not. This method returns True if the element is
found or False otherwise. This makes searching for items quicker and easier
than manually looking through each item in the list.

The “in” operator determines whether a given value is constituent element of a

sequence such as a string, array, list, or tuple. It is used to search an element
in a list.

Example
Here, we have a program in which we have used “in” operator to finding an
element .In program, we have to search “kunnal” element that exists in a list.
So, outcome comes as “element exist”

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
if ("kunnal"in lst):
print("Element Exists")

Output
Following output is generated upon executing the above program.

Element Exists
Here, we have a program in which we have used “in” operator to finding an
element .In program, we have to search “kunnal” element that exists in a list.
So, outcome comes as “element exist”

Using for Loop

A for loop is used to execute a statement repeatedly until given condition is
satisfied. And when condition becomes false, the line immediately after the loop
in the program is executed.

Example
In the following program, we are using “for loop” method to find an element we
are looking for. In the program, variable 'lst' is assigned a list of names. The for
loop iterates through each element in the list and checks if it equals "varun".

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
for i in lst:
if(i == "varun"):
print("Element Exists")

Output
We have a program in which we have used “for loop” for finding an element .In
this program, we have to search “varun” element that exists in a list. So,
outcome comes as “element exist”.

Element Exists

Using any()
The any() function takes an iterable ( list, string, dictionary, etc.) in python.
The any() function returns a Boolean value – true, if; at least one element of an
iterable is true and false if all elements are false or if an iterable is empty.

Example
In the following program, we have used “any()” to finding an element in the
given list of 6 strings.

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
result = any(item in lst for item in lst)
print("Does string contain any list element: "
+str(bool(result)))

Output
On executing the above program, following output is generated and the method
returns True, because the list contains atleast one element in it.

Does string contain any list element: True

Using find()
find() method is used to find the position of a given substring in a string, if it is
given in the list. It helps us to find the index of the first occurrence of substring.
It returns -1 substring is not present in the given string.

Example
Here, we have a program in which we have used “find()” in finding an
element.

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
print("Checking if kunnal exists in list")
x=list(map(str,lst))
y="-".join(x)
if y.find("kunnal") !=-1:
print("Yes, kunnal exists in list")
else:
print("No, kunnal does not exists in list")

Output
In this program we have to search “kunnal” element that exists in a list. So,
outcome comes as “yes, kunnal exist in list”, as shown below, when executed.

Checking if kunnal exists in list

Yes, kunnal exists in list

Using Counter()
A counter() is a dict subclass for counting hashable objects. It is a collection
where elements can be stored as dictionary value. It can also the negative and
zero values. For example −

Example
Here, we have a program in which we have used “counter()” in finding an
element

from collections import Counter

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
frequency = Counter(lst)
if(frequency["kunnal"] > 0):
print("Yes, kunnal exists in list")
else:
print("No, kunnal does not exists in list")
Output
Following output is generated upon executing the above program, the program
searches for “kunnal” element, which exists in the list. So, outcome comes as
follows -

Yes, kunnal exists in list

Using Count()
Count() function is used as in-built python List method, count(), to check if the
passed element exists in the List. If the passed element exists in the List, the
count() method will show the number of times it occurs in the entire list. If it is
a non-zero positive number, it means an element exists in the list.

Example
we have a program in which we used “count()”to finding an element

lst=["kiran","arun","varun","kunnal","tiya","rhea" ]
print("Checking if kunnal exists in list")
exist_count = lst.count("kunnal")
if exist_count> 0:
print("Yes, kunnal exists in list")
else:
print("No, kunnal does not exists in list")

Output
Checking if kunnal exists in list
Yes, kunnal exists in list