Chapter 6: Python 

Lists

Prepared by: Hanan Hardan

07/19/23 1
 Python Lists

• Lists are used to store multiple items in a single

variable.
• Lists are created using square brackets:

Example: Create a List

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist)
 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: It means that the 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.
• Changeable: meaning that we can change, add, and remove
items in a list after it has been created.
 List Items

• Allow Duplicates: Since lists are indexed, lists can have

items with the same value:

Example
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple", "cherry"]
print(thislist)
 List Length

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

function:

Example: Print the number of items in the list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(len(thislist))
 List Items - Data Types

• List items can be of any data type:

Example: String, int and boolean data types:
list1 = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
list2 = [1, 5, 7, 9, 3]
list3 = [True, False, False]
• A list can contain different data types:
Example
list4 = ["abc", 34, True, 40, "male"]
List5= [("abc", 34),["abc", 34], "abc", 34]
 The list() Constructor

• It is also possible to use the list() constructor when creating a new list.

Example:

thislist = list(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets

print(thislist)
 Access List Items

• List items are indexed and you can access them by referring
to the index number:
Example: Print the second item of the list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist[1])
• Negative indexing means start from the end
-1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.
Example: Print the last item of the list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist[-1])
 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.
Example: Return the third, fourth, and fifth item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[2:5])

Note: The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index

5 (not included).
 Range of Indexes

• Remember that the first item has index 0.

• By leaving out the start value, the range will start at the first
item:
This example returns the items from the beginning to, but NOT
including, "kiwi":
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[:4])
• By leaving out the end value, the range will go on to the end of
the list:
This example returns the items from "cherry" to the end:
thislist =["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "mango"]
print(thislist[2:])
 Range of Negative Indexes

• Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from

the end of the list:
• This example returns the items from "orange" (-4) to, but
NOT including "mango" (-1):

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[-4:-1]) 

Names = ("Ali", "Sami", "Omar", "Hani", "Reem")

print(Names[-1:-4:-1]) 
print(Names[-1:-4]) 
 Check if Item Exists

• To determine if a specified item is present in a list use the in

keyword:

Example: Check if "apple" is present in the list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

if "apple" in thislist:
print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits list")
 Change List Items

• To change the value of a specific item, refer to the index number:

Example: Change the second item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist[1] = "blackcurrant"
print(thislist)
 Change a Range of Item Values
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
Change the values "banana" and "cherry" with the values "blackcurrant"
and "watermelon":

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "mango"]

thislist[1:3] = ["blackcurrant", "watermelon"]
print(thislist)

07/19/23 14
 Change a Range of Item Values
• 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
Change the second value by replacing it with two new values:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist[1:2] = ["blackcurrant", "watermelon"]
print(thislist)

Note: The length of the list will change when the number of items
inserted does not match the number of items replaced.

07/19/23 15
 Change a Range of Item Values
• 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
Change the second and third value by replacing it with one value:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist[1:3] = ["watermelon"]
print(thislist)
 Add List Items

Append Items
•To add an item to the end of the list, use the append() method:

Example
Using the append() method to append an item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.append("orange")
print(thislist)
 Add List Items

Insert Items
•To insert a list item at a specified index, use the insert() method.
Example

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.insert(1, "orange")
thislist.insert(2, "watermelon")
print(thislist)

Note: As a result of the example above, the list will now contain 5 items.
 Add List Items

Extend List
•To append elements from another list to the current list, use the extend()
method.
Example
Add the elements of tropical to thislist:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
tropical = ["mango", "pineapple", "papaya"]
thislist.extend(tropical)
print(thislist)

Note:The elements will be added to the end of the list.

 Add List Items

Add Any Iterable

•The extend() method does not have to append lists, you can add any iterable
object (tuples, sets, dictionaries etc.).

Example
Add elements of a tuple to a list:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thistuple = ("kiwi", "orange")
thislist.extend(thistuple)
print(thislist)
 Remove List Items

Remove Specified Item

•The remove() method removes the specified item.

Example: Remove "banana":

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.remove("banana")
print(thislist)
 Remove List Items

Remove Specified Index

•The pop() method removes the specified index.

Example: Remove the second item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.pop(1)
print(thislist)
 Remove List Items

• If you do not specify the index, the pop() method removes the last item.

Example: Remove the last item:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.pop()
print(thislist)
 Remove List Items

• The del keyword also removes the specified index:Example

Example: Remove the first item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
del thislist[0]
print(thislist)

• The del keyword can also delete the list completely.

Example: Delete the entire list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
del thislist
 Remove List Items

Clear the List

•The clear() method empties the list.
•The list still remains, but it has no content.
Example: Clear the list content:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

thislist.clear()
print(thislist)
 Loop Lists

Loop Through a List

•You can loop through the list items by using a for loop:

Example: Print all items in the list, one by one:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for x in thislist:
print(x)
 Loop Lists

Loop Through the Index Numbers

•You can also loop through the list items by referring to their index number.
•Use the range() and len() functions to create a suitable iterable.

Example: Print all items by referring to their index number:

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

for i in range(len(thislist)):
print(thislist[i])
 List Comprehension

• List comprehension offers a shorter syntax when you want to create a new
list based on the values of an existing list.
• Comprehension syntax:
newlist = [expression for item in list if condition == True]

• The expression is some calculation or operation acting upon the variable

item
• The condition is like a filter that only accepts the items that valuate to
True.
• The return value is a new list, leaving the old list unchanged.
 List Comprehension

Example: Based on a list of fruits, you want a new list, containing only the
fruits with the letter "a" in the name.
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "kiwi", "mango"]

Without list comprehension With list comprehension

newlist = [] newlist = [x for x in fruits if "a" in x]
for x in fruits: print(newlist)
if "a" in x:
newlist.append(x)
print(newlist)
Note: With list comprehension you can do all that with only one line of code
 List Comprehension

Example: Only accept items that are not "apple":

newlist = [x for x in fruits if x != "apple"]

•The condition if x != "apple" will return True for all elements other than
"apple", making the new list contain all fruits except "apple".

Example:
li = [3, 6, 2, 7]
l1=[elem*2 for elem in li]
print(l1)
 List Comprehension

• The condition is optional and can be omitted:

Example: With no if statement:
newlist = [x for x in fruits]

• The iterable can be any iterable object, like a list, tuple, set etc.
Example: You can use the range() function to create an iterable:
newlist = [x for x in range(10)]

Example: Accept only numbers lower than 5:

newlist = [x for x in range(10) if x < 5]
 List Comprehension

Expression
•The expression is the current item in the iteration, but it is also the outcome,
which you can manipulate before it ends up like a list item in the new list:
Example: Set the values in the new list to upper case:
newlist = [x.upper() for x in fruits]

•You can set the outcome to whatever you like:

Example: Set all values in the new list to 'hello':
newlist = ['hello' for x in fruits]
 List Comprehension

• The expression can also contain conditions, not like a filter, but as a way

to manipulate the outcome:

Example: Return "orange" instead of "banana":

newlist = [x if x != "banana" else "orange" for x in fruits]

• The expression in the example above says:

"Return the item if it is not banana, if it is banana return orange".
 Sort Lists

• List objects have a sort() method that will sort the list alphanumerically
and numerically, ascending, by default:
• Sort List Alphanumerically
Example:
thislist = ["orange", "mango", "kiwi", "pineapple", "banana"]
thislist.sort()
print(thislist)
• Sort the list numerically:
Example:
thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]
thislist.sort()
print(thislist)
 Sort Lists

• Sort Descending :To sort descending, use the keyword argument reverse =
True
Example 1:
thislist = ["orange", "mango", "kiwi", "pineapple", "banana"]
thislist.sort(reverse = True)
print(thislist)

Example 2:
thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]
thislist.sort(reverse = True)
print(thislist)
 Sort Lists

Reverse Order
•What if you want to reverse the order of a list, regardless of the alphabet?
The reverse() method reverses the current sorting order of the elements.
Example: Reverse the order of the list items:

thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"]

thislist.reverse()
print(thislist)
 Join Lists

• There are several ways to join, or concatenate, two or more lists in

Python.
One of the easiest ways are by using the + operator.

Example: Join two list:

list1 = ["a", "b", "c"]

list2 = [1, 2, 3]
list3 = list1 + list2
print(list3)
 Join Lists

Another way to join two lists is by appending all the items from list2 into list1,
one by one:

Example: Append list2 into list1:

list1 = ["a", "b" , "c"]

list2 = [1, 2, 3]
for x in list2:
list1.append(x)
print(list1)
 Join Lists

Or you can use the extend() method, which purpose is to add elements from one
list to another list:

Example: Use the extend() method to add list2 at the end of list1:

list1 = ["a", "b" , "c"]

list2 = [1, 2, 3]
list1.extend(list2)
print(list1)
 Collection data types

• There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:
• List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate
members.
• Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate
members.
• Set is a collection which is unordered and unindexed. No duplicate
members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is ordered* and changeable. No duplicate
members.
• *As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and
earlier, dictionaries are unordered.
• When choosing a collection type, it is useful to understand the properties
of that type. Choosing the right type for a particular data set could mean
retention of meaning, and, it could mean an increase in efficiency or
security.