List

List

• List is a sequence data type which is used to store the collection of

data.
• List is a collection of things, enclosed in [ ] and separated by
commas.
• A single list may contain data types like integers, floating point
values, strings, as well as objects.
Creating a List

Syntax

list_name=[value1, value2, …., valuen]

Example

data = [1, 4.5, ‘demo’]

List Items
• List items are ordered, changeable, and allow duplicate values.
• List items are indexed, the first item has index [0], the second item has
index [1] etc.

Ordered
• Items have a defined order, and that order will not change.
• If you add new items to a list, the new items will be placed at the end
of the list.
List Items
Changeable/ Mutable
• The list is changeable, meaning that we can change, add, and remove
items in a list after it has been created.

Duplicate
• Lists can have items with the same value
List Items
Example
list1 = [1,3,4,5,1]
list2 = [3.4, 5.6, ‘text’]
list3 = [ True, False, True ]
print(list1)
print(list3)
print(list3)
List Length

• To determine how many items a list has, use the len() function.

Example
data=[1, 3, 2, 5,1]
print(len(data))

Output
5
type( )

• To determine the type of an object, use the type( ) function.

Example
data=[1, 3, 2, 5,1]
print(type(data))

Output
<class ‘list’>
list( )
• It is also possible to use the list() constructor when creating a new list.

Example
data_set = list( (1, 3, 7.65, ‘str’ ) )
print(type(data_set))
print(data_set)
Output
<class ‘list’>
[1, 3, 7.65, ‘str’ ]
Access the list items
• List items are indexed and you can access them by referring to the index
number
• The first item has index 0.

Example
data_set = [1, 3, 7.65, ‘str’ ]
print(data_set[0])
print(data_set[3])
Output
1
‘str’
Access the list items
Negative Indexing
• Negative indexing means start from the end
• -1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.
Example
color_set = [‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’]
print(data_set[-1])
print(data_set[-2])
Output
blue
green
Access the list items
Slicing/ Range of Indexes
• You can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and
where to end the range.
• When specifying a range, the return value will be a new list with the
specified items

[ start_index : end_index]
Access the list items
Slicing

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
print(colors[2:4])
# search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 4 (not included)

Output
[‘blue’, ‘yellow’]
Access the list items
Slicing

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
print(colors[2:])
# search will start at index 2 (included) and end at last index

Output
[‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’]
Access the list items
Slicing

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
print(colors[:3])
# search will start at index 0 (included) and end at index 3(not included)

Output
[‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’]
Access the list items
Slicing
Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’]
print(colors[:])
# from beginning to end
# search will start at index 0 (included) and end at index 2(included)

Output
[‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’]
Access the list items

Negative Indexes
x=[‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘d’]

Index : 0 1 2 3

a b c d
Negative
Index : -4 -3 -2 -1
Access the list items
Slicing using Range of Negative Indexes

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
print(colors[-3:-1])
# search will start at index -3 (included) and end at index -1(not included)

Output
[‘blue’, ‘yellow’]
Access the list items
Slicing using Range of Negative Indexes

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
print(colors[-3:])
# search will start at index -3 (included) and end at index -1(included)

Output
[‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’]
Access the list items
Slicing using Range of Negative Indexes

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
print(colors[:-3])
# search will start at index -5/0 (included) and end at index -3(not included)

Output
[‘red’, ‘green’]
Nested list
List inside another list

Example
list_example = [ ‘red’, [1, 2, 3.4] ]
print(list_example[0])
print(list_example[0][1])
print(list_example[1])
print(list_example[1][1])
Nested list
List inside another list

Example
list_example = [ ‘red’, [1, 2, 3.4] ] Output
print(list_example[0]) ‘red’
print(list_example[0][1]) ‘e’
print(list_example[1]) [1, 2, 3.4]
print(list_example[1][1]) [2]
Check if an item exists in a list
Membership Operators : in, not in
Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’, ‘violet’ ]
if ‘red’ in colors:
print(“Member”)
else:
print(“Not a member”)

Output
Member
Changing an item value
To change the value of a specific item, refer to the index number

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘yellow’, ‘blue’, ‘violet’ ]
colors[1] = ‘green’
print(colors)

Output
[ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘violet’ ]
Changing a range of item value
To change the value of items within a specific range,
• Define a list with the new values, and
• Refer to the range of index numbers where you want to insert the
new values
Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘yellow’, ‘blue’, ‘violet’ ]
colors[1:3] = [‘green’, ‘magenta’]
print(colors)

Output
[ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘magenta’, ‘violet’ ]
Changing a range of item value
If you insert more items than you replace, the new items will be inserted
where you specified, and the remaining items will move accordingly.

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘yellow’, ‘blue’]
colors[1:2] = [‘green’, ‘magenta’]
print(colors)

Output
[ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘magenta’, ‘blue’ ]
Changing a range of item value
If you insert less items than you replace, the new items will be inserted
where you specified, and the remaining items will move accordingly.

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘yellow’, ‘blue’]
colors[1:3] = [‘magenta’]
print(colors)

Output
[ ‘red’, ‘magenta’, ‘blue’ ]
Changing a range of item value
If you insert less items than you replace, the new items will be inserted
where you specified, and the remaining items will move accordingly.

Example
colors = [ ‘red’, ‘green’, ‘yellow’]
colors[1:3] = [‘magenta’]
print(colors)

Output
[ ‘red’, ‘magenta’]
List Methods
Adding items to a list
append( )
To add an item to the end of the list
Syntax: list_name.append(value) # takes only one value
Example
num = [1, 23, 78, 96, 44]
num.append(59)
print(num)

Output
[1, 23, 78, 96, 44, 59]
Adding items to a list
append( )

Example
num_list1 = [1, 23, 78]
num_list2 = [89,97]
num_list1.append(num_list2)
print(num_list1)
Output
[1, 23, 78, [89, 97] ]
Adding items to a list
insert( )
To insert a list item at a specified index
Syntax: list_name.insert( index, value)

Example
num = [1, 23, 78, 96, 44]
num.insert(2, 35)
print(num)

Output
[1, 23, 35, 78, 96, 44, 59]
Adding items to a list
extend( )
To append elements from another list to the current list
Syntax: list_name.extend(list_name)
Example
num_list1 = [1, 23, 78]
num_list2 = [89,97]
num_list1.extend(num_list2)
print(num_list1)
Output
[1, 23, 78, 89, 97]
Removing items from a list
remove( )
removes the specified item
Syntax: list_name.remove(value)

Example
num_list1 = [1, 23, 78]
num_list1.remove(23)
print(num_list1)
Output
[1, 78]
Removing items from a specified index
pop( )
• When index is mentioned, removes the item at specified index
• Otherwise, removes the last item
Syntax: list_name.pop( ) or list_name.pop(index)

Example 1
num_list1 = [1, 23, 78]
num_list1.pop( ) #index is not passes as an argument, removes last item
print(num_list1)
Output
[1, 23]
Removing items from a specified index
pop( )
• When index is mentioned, removes the item at specified index
• Otherwise, removes the last item
Syntax: list_name.pop( ) or list_name.pop(index)

Example 2
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78]
num_list1.pop(1) #index is passed, removes item at index 2
print(num_list1)
Output
[12, 78]
Removing items from a specified index
del
• Used to delete an object
• Can also be used to delete an item at a specified index in a list
Syntax: del list_name[index]

Example 1
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78]
del num_list1[1]
print(num_list1)
Output
[12, 78]
Removing items from a specified index
del
• Used to delete an object
• Can also be used to delete an item at a specified index in a list
Syntax: del list_name
Example 2
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78]
del num_list1
print(num_list1)
Output
name ‘num_list1’ is not defined
Removing items from a specified index
clear( )
Empties the list
Syntax: list_name.clear( )

Example
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78]
num_list1.clear( )
print(num_list1)
Output
[]
Counting the occurrence of an item
count( )
returns the count of the occurence of item passed as an argument
Syntax: list_name.count(value )

Example
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78, 12]
print(num_list1.count(12 ))

Output
2
Reversing a list
reverse( )
reverse the order of items in a list
Syntax: list_name.reverse( )

Example
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78, 2]
num_list1.reverse( )
print(num_list1)

Output
[2, 78, 23, 12]
Sorting a list
sort( )
sort the list items in ascending order (by default )
Syntax: list_name.sort(reverse=True | False, key)
reverse, key – optional arguments
Example 1
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78, 2]
num_list1.sort( )
print(num_list1)

Output
[2, 12, 23, 78]
Sorting a list
sort( )
sort the list items in ascending order (by default )
Syntax: list_name.sort(reverse=True | False, key)
reverse = True – Descending, False - Ascending
Example 2
num_list1 = [12, 23, 78, 2]
num_list1.sort( reverse=True)
print(num_list1)

Output
[78, 23, 12 , 2]