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5. Data Structures
This chapter describes some things you’ve learned about already in more detail, and adds
some new things as well.

5.1. More on Lists

The list data type has some more methods. Here are all of the methods of list objects:

list.append(x)
Add an item to the end of the list; equivalent to a[len(a):] = [x].

list.extend(L)
Extend the list by appending all the items in the given list; equivalent
to a[len(a):] = L.

list.insert(i, x)
Insert an item at a given position. The first argument is the index of the element before
which to insert, so a.insert(0, x) inserts at the front of the list,
and a.insert(len(a), x) is equivalent to a.append(x).

list.remove(x)
Remove the first item from the list whose value is x. It is an error if there is no such item.

list.pop([i])
Remove the item at the given position in the list, and return it. If no index is
specified, a.pop() removes and returns the last item in the list. (The square brackets
around the i in the method signature denote that the parameter is optional, not that you
should type square brackets at that position. You will see this notation frequently in the
Python Library Reference.)

list.index(x)
Return the index in the list of the first item whose value is x. It is an error if there is no
such item.

list.count(x)
Return the number of times x appears in the list.

list.sort(cmp=None, key=None, reverse=False)

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Sort the items of the list in place (the arguments can be used for sort customization,
see sorted() for their explanation).

list.reverse()
Reverse the elements of the list, in place.

An example that uses most of the list methods:

>>> a = [66.25, 333, 333, 1, 1234.5]

>>> print a.count(333), a.count(66.25), a.count('x')
2 1 0
>>> a.insert(2, -1)
>>> a.append(333)
>>> a
[66.25, 333, -1, 333, 1, 1234.5, 333]
>>> a.index(333)
1
>>> a.remove(333)
>>> a
[66.25, -1, 333, 1, 1234.5, 333]
>>> a.reverse()
>>> a
[333, 1234.5, 1, 333, -1, 66.25]
>>> a.sort()
>>> a
[-1, 1, 66.25, 333, 333, 1234.5]
>>> a.pop()
1234.5
>>> a
[-1, 1, 66.25, 333, 333]

You might have noticed that methods like insert, remove or sort that only modify the
list have no return value printed – they return the default None. This is a design principle
for all mutable data structures in Python.

5.1.1. Using Lists as Stacks

The list methods make it very easy to use a list as a stack, where the last element added
is the first element retrieved (“last-in, first-out”). To add an item to the top of the stack,
use append(). To retrieve an item from the top of the stack, use pop() without an explicit
index. For example:

>>> stack = [3, 4, 5]

>>> stack.append(6)
>>> stack.append(7)
>>> stack
[3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
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>>> stack.pop()
7
>>> stack
[3, 4, 5, 6]
>>> stack.pop()
6
>>> stack.pop()
5
>>> stack
[3, 4]

5.1.2. Using Lists as Queues

It is also possible to use a list as a queue, where the first element added is the first element
retrieved (“first-in, first-out”); however, lists are not efficient for this purpose. While
appends and pops from the end of list are fast, doing inserts or pops from the beginning
of a list is slow (because all of the other elements have to be shifted by one).

To implement a queue, use collections.deque which was designed to have fast

appends and pops from both ends. For example:

>>> from collections import deque

>>> queue = deque(["Eric", "John", "Michael"])
>>> queue.append("Terry") # Terry arrives
>>> queue.append("Graham") # Graham arrives
>>> queue.popleft() # The first to arrive now leaves
'Eric'
>>> queue.popleft() # The second to arrive now leaves
'John'
>>> queue # Remaining queue in order of arrival
deque(['Michael', 'Terry', 'Graham'])

5.1.3. Functional Programming Tools

There are three built-in functions that are very useful when used with
lists: filter(), map(), and reduce().

filter(function, sequence) returns a sequence consisting of those items from the

sequence for which function(item) is true. If sequence is a str, unicode or tuple,
the result will be of the same type; otherwise, it is always a list. For example, to compute
a sequence of numbers divisible by 3 or 5:

>>> def f(x): return x % 3 == 0 or x % 5 == 0

...
>>> filter(f, range(2, 25))
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[3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 21, 24]

map(function, sequence) calls function(item) for each of the sequence’s items

and returns a list of the return values. For example, to compute some cubes:

>>> def cube(x): return x*x*x

...
>>> map(cube, range(1, 11))
[1, 8, 27, 64, 125, 216, 343, 512, 729, 1000]

More than one sequence may be passed; the function must then have as many
arguments as there are sequences and is called with the corresponding item from each
sequence (or None if some sequence is shorter than another). For example:

>>> seq = range(8)

>>> def add(x, y): return x+y
...
>>> map(add, seq, seq)
[0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14]

reduce(function, sequence) returns a single value constructed by calling the binary

function function on the first two items of the sequence, then on the result and the next
item, and so on. For example, to compute the sum of the numbers 1 through 10:

>>> def add(x,y): return x+y

...
>>> reduce(add, range(1, 11))
55

If there’s only one item in the sequence, its value is returned; if the sequence is empty,
an exception is raised.

A third argument can be passed to indicate the starting value. In this case the starting
value is returned for an empty sequence, and the function is first applied to the starting
value and the first sequence item, then to the result and the next item, and so on. For
example,

>>> def sum(seq):

... def add(x,y): return x+y
... return reduce(add, seq, 0)
...
>>> sum(range(1, 11))
55
>>> sum([])
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Don’t use this example’s definition of sum(): since summing numbers is such a common
need, a built-in function sum(sequence) is already provided, and works exactly like this.

5.1.4. List Comprehensions

List comprehensions provide a concise way to create lists. Common applications are to
make new lists where each element is the result of some operations applied to each
member of another sequence or iterable, or to create a subsequence of those elements
that satisfy a certain condition.

For example, assume we want to create a list of squares, like:

>>> squares = []
>>> for x in range(10):
... squares.append(x**2)
...
>>> squares
[0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]

We can obtain the same result with:

squares = [x**2 for x in range(10)]

This is also equivalent to squares = map(lambda x: x**2, range(10)), but it’s

more concise and readable.

A list comprehension consists of brackets containing an expression followed by

a for clause, then zero or more for or if clauses. The result will be a new list resulting
from evaluating the expression in the context of the for and if clauses which follow it.
For example, this listcomp combines the elements of two lists if they are not equal:

>>> [(x, y) for x in [1,2,3] for y in [3,1,4] if x != y]

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

and it’s equivalent to:

>>> combs = []
>>> for x in [1,2,3]:
... for y in [3,1,4]:
... if x != y:
... combs.append((x, y))
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...
>>> combs
[(1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 1), (2, 4), (3, 1), (3, 4)]

Note how the order of the for and if statements is the same in both these snippets.

If the expression is a tuple (e.g. the (x, y) in the previous example), it must be
parenthesized.

>>> vec = [-4, -2, 0, 2, 4]

>>> # create a new list with the values doubled
>>> [x*2 for x in vec]
[-8, -4, 0, 4, 8]
>>> # filter the list to exclude negative numbers
>>> [x for x in vec if x >= 0]
[0, 2, 4]
>>> # apply a function to all the elements
>>> [abs(x) for x in vec]
[4, 2, 0, 2, 4]
>>> # call a method on each element
>>> freshfruit = [' banana', ' loganberry ', 'passion fruit ']
>>> [weapon.strip() for weapon in freshfruit]
['banana', 'loganberry', 'passion fruit']
>>> # create a list of 2-tuples like (number, square)
>>> [(x, x**2) for x in range(6)]
[(0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 4), (3, 9), (4, 16), (5, 25)]
>>> # the tuple must be parenthesized, otherwise an error is raised
>>> [x, x**2 for x in range(6)]
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
[x, x**2 for x in range(6)]
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
>>> # flatten a list using a listcomp with two 'for'
>>> vec = [[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9]]
>>> [num for elem in vec for num in elem]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

List comprehensions can contain complex expressions and nested functions:

>>> from math import pi

>>> [str(round(pi, i)) for i in range(1, 6)]
['3.1', '3.14', '3.142', '3.1416', '3.14159']

5.1.4.1. Nested List Comprehensions

The initial expression in a list comprehension can be any arbitrary expression, including
another list comprehension.
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Consider the following example of a 3x4 matrix implemented as a list of 3 lists of length
4:

>>> matrix = [
... [1, 2, 3, 4],
... [5, 6, 7, 8],
... [9, 10, 11, 12],
... ]

The following list comprehension will transpose rows and columns:

>>> [[row[i] for row in matrix] for i in range(4)]

[[1, 5, 9], [2, 6, 10], [3, 7, 11], [4, 8, 12]]

As we saw in the previous section, the nested listcomp is evaluated in the context of
the for that follows it, so this example is equivalent to:

>>> transposed = []
>>> for i in range(4):
... transposed.append([row[i] for row in matrix])
...
>>> transposed
[[1, 5, 9], [2, 6, 10], [3, 7, 11], [4, 8, 12]]

which, in turn, is the same as:

>>> transposed = []
>>> for i in range(4):
... # the following 3 lines implement the nested listcomp
... transposed_row = []
... for row in matrix:
... transposed_row.append(row[i])
... transposed.append(transposed_row)
...
>>> transposed
[[1, 5, 9], [2, 6, 10], [3, 7, 11], [4, 8, 12]]

In the real world, you should prefer built-in functions to complex flow statements.
The zip() function would do a great job for this use case:

>>> zip(*matrix)
[(1, 5, 9), (2, 6, 10), (3, 7, 11), (4, 8, 12)]

See Unpacking Argument Lists for details on the asterisk in this line.
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5.2. The del statement

There is a way to remove an item from a list given its index instead of its value:
the del statement. This differs from the pop() method which returns a value.
The del statement can also be used to remove slices from a list or clear the entire list
(which we did earlier by assignment of an empty list to the slice). For example:

>>> a = [-1, 1, 66.25, 333, 333, 1234.5]

>>> del a[0]
>>> a
[1, 66.25, 333, 333, 1234.5]
>>> del a[2:4]
>>> a
[1, 66.25, 1234.5]
>>> del a[:]
>>> a
[]

del can also be used to delete entire variables:

>>> del a

Referencing the name a hereafter is an error (at least until another value is assigned to
it). We’ll find other uses for del later.

5.3. Tuples and Sequences

We saw that lists and strings have many common properties, such as indexing and slicing
operations. They are two examples of sequence data types (see Sequence Types — str,
unicode, list, tuple, bytearray, buffer, xrange). Since Python is an evolving language, other
sequence data types may be added. There is also another standard sequence data type:
the tuple.

A tuple consists of a number of values separated by commas, for instance:

>>> t = 12345, 54321, 'hello!'

>>> t[0]
12345
>>> t
(12345, 54321, 'hello!')
>>> # Tuples may be nested:
... u = t, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
>>> u
((12345, 54321, 'hello!'), (1, 2, 3, 4, 5))
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>>> # Tuples are immutable:

... t[0] = 88888
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment
>>> # but they can contain mutable objects:
... v = ([1, 2, 3], [3, 2, 1])
>>> v
([1, 2, 3], [3, 2, 1])

As you see, on output tuples are always enclosed in parentheses, so that nested tuples
are interpreted correctly; they may be input with or without surrounding parentheses,
although often parentheses are necessary anyway (if the tuple is part of a larger
expression). It is not possible to assign to the individual items of a tuple, however it is
possible to create tuples which contain mutable objects, such as lists.

Though tuples may seem similar to lists, they are often used in different situations and for
different purposes. Tuples are immutable, and usually contain a heterogeneous
sequence of elements that are accessed via unpacking (see later in this section) or
indexing (or even by attribute in the case of namedtuples). Lists are mutable, and their
elements are usually homogeneous and are accessed by iterating over the list.

A special problem is the construction of tuples containing 0 or 1 items: the syntax has
some extra quirks to accommodate these. Empty tuples are constructed by an empty pair
of parentheses; a tuple with one item is constructed by following a value with a comma (it
is not sufficient to enclose a single value in parentheses). Ugly, but effective. For example:

>>> empty = ()
>>> singleton = 'hello', # <-- note trailing comma
>>> len(empty)
0
>>> len(singleton)
1
>>> singleton
('hello',)

The statement t = 12345, 54321, 'hello!' is an example of tuple packing: the

values 12345, 54321 and 'hello!' are packed together in a tuple. The reverse
operation is also possible:

>>> x, y, z = t

This is called, appropriately enough, sequence unpacking and works for any sequence
on the right-hand side. Sequence unpacking requires the list of variables on the left to
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have the same number of elements as the length of the sequence. Note that multiple
assignment is really just a combination of tuple packing and sequence unpacking.

5.4. Sets
Python also includes a data type for sets. A set is an unordered collection with no
duplicate elements. Basic uses include membership testing and eliminating duplicate
entries. Set objects also support mathematical operations like union, intersection,
difference, and symmetric difference.

Curly braces or the set() function can be used to create sets. Note: to create an empty
set you have to use set(), not {}; the latter creates an empty dictionary, a data structure
that we discuss in the next section.

Here is a brief demonstration:

>>> basket = ['apple', 'orange', 'apple', 'pear', 'orange', 'banana']

>>> fruit = set(basket) # create a set without duplicates
>>> fruit
set(['orange', 'pear', 'apple', 'banana'])
>>> 'orange' in fruit # fast membership testing
True
>>> 'crabgrass' in fruit
False

>>> # Demonstrate set operations on unique letters from two words

...
>>> a = set('abracadabra')
>>> b = set('alacazam')
>>> a # unique letters in a
set(['a', 'r', 'b', 'c', 'd'])
>>> a - b # letters in a but not in b
set(['r', 'd', 'b'])
>>> a | b # letters in either a or b
set(['a', 'c', 'r', 'd', 'b', 'm', 'z', 'l'])
>>> a & b # letters in both a and b
set(['a', 'c'])
>>> a ^ b # letters in a or b but not both
set(['r', 'd', 'b', 'm', 'z', 'l'])

Similarly to list comprehensions, set comprehensions are also supported:

>>> a = {x for x in 'abracadabra' if x not in 'abc'}

>>> a
set(['r', 'd'])
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5.5. Dictionaries
Another useful data type built into Python is the dictionary (see Mapping Types — dict).
Dictionaries are sometimes found in other languages as “associative memories” or
“associative arrays”. Unlike sequences, which are indexed by a range of numbers,
dictionaries are indexed by keys, which can be any immutable type; strings and numbers
can always be keys. Tuples can be used as keys if they contain only strings, numbers, or
tuples; if a tuple contains any mutable object either directly or indirectly, it cannot be used
as a key. You can’t use lists as keys, since lists can be modified in place using index
assignments, slice assignments, or methods like append() and extend().

It is best to think of a dictionary as an unordered set of key: value pairs, with the
requirement that the keys are unique (within one dictionary). A pair of braces creates an
empty dictionary: {}. Placing a comma-separated list of key:value pairs within the braces
adds initial key:value pairs to the dictionary; this is also the way dictionaries are written
on output.

The main operations on a dictionary are storing a value with some key and extracting the
value given the key. It is also possible to delete a key:value pair with del. If you store
using a key that is already in use, the old value associated with that key is forgotten. It is
an error to extract a value using a non-existent key.

The keys() method of a dictionary object returns a list of all the keys used in the
dictionary, in arbitrary order (if you want it sorted, just apply the sorted() function to it).
To check whether a single key is in the dictionary, use the in keyword.

Here is a small example using a dictionary:

>>> tel = {'jack': 4098, 'sape': 4139}

>>> tel['guido'] = 4127
>>> tel
{'sape': 4139, 'guido': 4127, 'jack': 4098}
>>> tel['jack']
4098
>>> del tel['sape']
>>> tel['irv'] = 4127
>>> tel
{'guido': 4127, 'irv': 4127, 'jack': 4098}
>>> tel.keys()
['guido', 'irv', 'jack']
>>> 'guido' in tel
True

The dict() constructor builds dictionaries directly from sequences of key-value pairs:
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>>> dict([('sape', 4139), ('guido', 4127), ('jack', 4098)])

{'sape': 4139, 'jack': 4098, 'guido': 4127}

In addition, dict comprehensions can be used to create dictionaries from arbitrary key and
value expressions:

>>> {x: x**2 for x in (2, 4, 6)}

{2: 4, 4: 16, 6: 36}

When the keys are simple strings, it is sometimes easier to specify pairs using keyword
arguments:

>>> dict(sape=4139, guido=4127, jack=4098)

{'sape': 4139, 'jack': 4098, 'guido': 4127}

5.6. Looping Techniques

When looping through a sequence, the position index and corresponding value can be
retrieved at the same time using the enumerate() function.

>>> for i, v in enumerate(['tic', 'tac', 'toe']):

... print i, v
...
0 tic
1 tac
2 toe

To loop over two or more sequences at the same time, the entries can be paired with
the zip() function.

>>> questions = ['name', 'quest', 'favorite color']

>>> answers = ['lancelot', 'the holy grail', 'blue']
>>> for q, a in zip(questions, answers):
... print 'What is your {0}? It is {1}.'.format(q, a)
...
What is your name? It is lancelot.
What is your quest? It is the holy grail.
What is your favorite color? It is blue.

To loop over a sequence in reverse, first specify the sequence in a forward direction and
then call the reversed() function.

>>> for i in reversed(xrange(1,10,2)):

... print i
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...
9
7
5
3
1

To loop over a sequence in sorted order, use the sorted() function which returns a new
sorted list while leaving the source unaltered.

>>> basket = ['apple', 'orange', 'apple', 'pear', 'orange', 'banana']

>>> for f in sorted(set(basket)):
... print f
...
apple
banana
orange
pear

When looping through dictionaries, the key and corresponding value can be retrieved at
the same time using the iteritems() method.

>>> knights = {'gallahad': 'the pure', 'robin': 'the brave'}

>>> for k, v in knights.iteritems():
... print k, v
...
gallahad the pure
robin the brave

It is sometimes tempting to change a list while you are looping over it; however, it is often
simpler and safer to create a new list instead.

>>> import math

>>> raw_data = [56.2, float('NaN'), 51.7, 55.3, 52.5, float('NaN'), 47.8]
>>> filtered_data = []
>>> for value in raw_data:
... if not math.isnan(value):
... filtered_data.append(value)
...
>>> filtered_data
[56.2, 51.7, 55.3, 52.5, 47.8]

5.7. More on Conditions

The conditions used in while and if statements can contain any operators, not just
comparisons.
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The comparison operators in and not in check whether a value occurs (does not
occur) in a sequence. The operators is and is not compare whether two objects are
really the same object; this only matters for mutable objects like lists. All comparison
operators have the same priority, which is lower than that of all numerical operators.

Comparisons can be chained. For example, a < b == c tests whether a is less

than b and moreover b equals c.

Comparisons may be combined using the Boolean operators and and or, and the
outcome of a comparison (or of any other Boolean expression) may be negated with not.
These have lower priorities than comparison operators; between them, not has the
highest priority and or the lowest, so that A and not B or C is equivalent
to (A and (not B)) or C. As always, parentheses can be used to express the desired
composition.

The Boolean operators and and or are so-called short-circuit operators: their arguments
are evaluated from left to right, and evaluation stops as soon as the outcome is
determined. For example, if Aand C are true but B is false, A and B and C does not
evaluate the expression C. When used as a general value and not as a Boolean, the
return value of a short-circuit operator is the last evaluated argument.

It is possible to assign the result of a comparison or other Boolean expression to a

variable. For example,

>>> string1, string2, string3 = '', 'Trondheim', 'Hammer Dance'

>>> non_null = string1 or string2 or string3
>>> non_null
'Trondheim'

Note that in Python, unlike C, assignment cannot occur inside expressions. C

programmers may grumble about this, but it avoids a common class of problems
encountered in C programs: typing =in an expression when == was intended.

5.8. Comparing Sequences and Other Types

Sequence objects may be compared to other objects with the same sequence type. The
comparison uses lexicographical ordering: first the first two items are compared, and if
they differ this determines the outcome of the comparison; if they are equal, the next two
items are compared, and so on, until either sequence is exhausted. If two items to be
compared are themselves sequences of the same type, the lexicographical comparison
is carried out recursively. If all items of two sequences compare equal, the sequences are
considered equal. If one sequence is an initial sub-sequence of the other, the shorter
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sequence is the smaller (lesser) one. Lexicographical ordering for strings uses the ASCII
ordering for individual characters. Some examples of comparisons between sequences
of the same type:

(1, 2, 3) < (1, 2, 4)

[1, 2, 3] < [1, 2, 4]
'ABC' < 'C' < 'Pascal' < 'Python'
(1, 2, 3, 4) < (1, 2, 4)
(1, 2) < (1, 2, -1)
(1, 2, 3) == (1.0, 2.0, 3.0)
(1, 2, ('aa', 'ab')) < (1, 2, ('abc', 'a'), 4)

Note that comparing objects of different types is legal. The outcome is deterministic but
arbitrary: the types are ordered by their name. Thus, a list is always smaller than a string,
a string is always smaller than a tuple, etc. [1] Mixed numeric types are compared
according to their numeric value, so 0 equals 0.0, etc.