Lists - Advanced Python 01
List is a collection data type which is ordered and mutable. Unlike Sets, Lists allow duplicate elements.
List is a collection data type which is ordered and mutable. Unlike Sets, Lists allow duplicate elements. They are useful for preserving a sequence of data and further iterating over it. Lists are created with square brackets.
my_list = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
Comparison of basic built-in collection data types in Python:¶
- List is a collection which is ordered and mutable. Allows duplicate members.
- Tuple is a collection which is ordered and immutable. Allows duplicate members.
- Set is a collection which is unordered and unindexed. No duplicate members.
- Dictionary is a collection which is unordered, mutable and indexed. No duplicate members.
- Strings are immutable sequences of Unicode code points.
Creating a list¶
Lists are created with square brackets or the built-in list function.
list_1 = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
print(list_1)
# Or create an empty list with the list function
list_2 = list()
print(list_2)
# Lists allow different data types
list_3 = [5, True, "apple"]
print(list_3)
# Lists allow duplicates
list_4 = [0, 0, 1, 1]
print(list_4)
['banana', 'cherry', 'apple']
[]
[5, True, 'apple']
[0, 0, 1, 1]
Access elements¶
You access the list items by referring to the index number. Note that the indices start at 0.
item = list_1[0]
print(item)
# You can also use negative indexing, e.g -1 refers to the last item,
# -2 to the second last item, and so on
item = list_1[-1]
print(item)
banana
apple
Change items¶
Just refer to the index number and assign a new value.
# Lists can be altered after their creation
list_1[2] = "lemon"
print(list_1)
['banana', 'cherry', 'lemon']
Useful methods¶
Have a look at the Python Documentation to see all list methods: https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/datastructures.html
my_list = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
# len() : get the number of elements in a list
print("Length:", len(my_list))
# append() : adds an element to the end of the list
my_list.append("orange")
# insert() : adds an element at the specified position
my_list.insert(1, "blueberry")
print(my_list)
# pop() : removes and returns the item at the given position, default is the last item
item = my_list.pop()
print("Popped item: ", item)
# remove() : removes an item from the list
my_list.remove("cherry") # Value error if not in the list
print(my_list)
# clear() : removes all items from the list
my_list.clear()
print(my_list)
# reverse() : reverse the items
my_list = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
my_list.reverse()
print('Reversed: ', my_list)
# sort() : sort items in ascending order
my_list.sort()
print('Sorted: ', my_list)
# use sorted() to get a new list, and leave the original unaffected.
# sorted() works on any iterable type, not just lists
my_list = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
new_list = sorted(my_list)
# create list with repeated elements
list_with_zeros = [0] * 5
print(list_with_zeros)
# concatenation
list_concat = list_with_zeros + my_list
print(list_concat)
# convert string to list
string_to_list = list('Hello')
print(string_to_list)
Length: 3
['banana', 'blueberry', 'cherry', 'apple', 'orange']
Popped item: orange
['banana', 'blueberry', 'apple']
[]
Reversed: ['apple', 'cherry', 'banana']
Sorted: ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']
[0, 0, 0, 0, 0]
[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 'banana', 'cherry', 'apple']
['H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o']
Copy a list¶
Be careful when copying references.
list_org = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
# this just copies the reference to the list, so be careful
list_copy = list_org
# now modifying the copy also affects the original
list_copy.append(True)
print(list_copy)
print(list_org)
# use copy(), or list(x) to actually copy the list
# slicing also works: list_copy = list_org[:]
list_org = ["banana", "cherry", "apple"]
list_copy = list_org.copy()
# list_copy = list(list_org)
# list_copy = list_org[:]
# now modifying the copy does not affect the original
list_copy.append(True)
print(list_copy)
print(list_org)
['banana', 'cherry', 'apple', True]
['banana', 'cherry', 'apple', True]
['banana', 'cherry', 'apple', True]
['banana', 'cherry', 'apple']
Iterating¶
# Iterating over a list by using a for in loop
for i in list_1:
print(i)
banana
cherry
lemon
Check if an item exists¶
if "banana" in list_1:
print("yes")
else:
print("no")
yes
Slicing¶
Access sub parts of the list wih the use of colon (:), just as with strings.
# a[start:stop:step], default step is 1
a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
b = a[1:3] # Note that the last index is not included
print(b)
b = a[2:] # until the end
print(b)
b = a[:3] # from beginning
print(b)
a[0:3] = [0] # replace sub-parts, you need an iterable here
print(a)
b = a[::2] # start to end with every second item
print(b)
a = a[::-1] # reverse the list with a negative step:
print(a)
b = a[:] # copy a list with slicing
print(b)
[2, 3]
[3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
[1, 2, 3]
[0, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
[0, 5, 7, 9]
[10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 0]
[10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 0]
List comprehension¶
A elegant and fast way to create a new list from an existing list.
List comprehension consists of an expression followed by a for statement inside square brackets.
a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
b = [i * i for i in a] # squares each element
print(b)
[1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64]
Nested lists¶
Lists can contain other lists (or other container types).
a = [[1, 2], [3, 4]]
print(a)
print(a[0])
[[1, 2], [3, 4]]
[1, 2]
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