Python List with examples

In this guide, we will discuss lists in Python. A list is a data type that allows you to store various types data in it. List is a compound data type which means you can have different-2 data types under a list, for example we can have integer, float and string items in a same list.

1. Create a List in Python

Lets see how to create a list in Python. To create a list all you have to do is to place the items inside a square bracket [] separated by comma ,.

# list of floats
num_list = [11.22, 9.9, 78.34, 12.0]

# list of int, float and strings
mix_list = [1.13, 2, 5, "beginnersbook", 100, "hi"]

# an empty list
nodata_list = []

As we have seen above, a list can have data items of same type or different types. This is the reason list comes under compound data type.

2. Accessing the items of a list

Syntax to access the list items:

list_name[index]

Example:

# a list of numbers
numbers = [11, 22, 33, 100, 200, 300]

# prints 11
print(numbers[0])

# prints 300
print(numbers[5])

# prints 22
print(numbers[1])

Output:

11
300
22

Points to Note:
1. The index cannot be a float number.

For example:

# a list of numbers
numbers = [11, 22, 33, 100, 200, 300]

# error
print(numbers[1.0])

Output:

TypeError: list indices must be integers or slices, not float

2. The index must be in range to avoid IndexError. The range of the index of a list having 10 elements is 0 to 9, if we go beyond 9 then we will get IndexError. However if we go below 0 then it would not cause issue in certain cases, we will discuss that in our next section.
For example:

# a list of numbers
numbers = [11, 22, 33, 100, 200, 300]

# error
print(numbers[6])

Output:

IndexError: list index out of range

3. Negative Index to access the list items from the end

Unlike other programming languages where negative index may cause issue, Python allows you to use negative indexes. The idea behind this to allow you to access the list elements starting from the end. For example an index of -1 would access the last element of the list, -2 second last, -3 third last and so on.

3.1 Example of Negative indexes in Python

# a list of strings
my_list = ["hello", "world", "hi", "bye"]

# prints "bye"
print(my_list[-1])

# prints "world"
print(my_list[-3])

# prints "hello"
print(my_list[-4])

Output:

bye
world
hello

4. How to get a sublist in Python using slicing

We can get a sublist from a list in Python using slicing operation. Lets say we have a list n_list having 10 elements, then we can slice this list using colon : operator. Lets take an example to understand this:

4.1 Slicing example

# list of numbers
n_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

# list items from 2nd to 3rd
print(n_list[1:3])

# list items from beginning to 3rd
print(n_list[:3])

# list items from 4th to end of list
print(n_list[3:])

# Whole list
print(n_list[:])

Output:

[2, 3]
[1, 2, 3]
[4, 5, 6, 7]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

5. List Operations

There are various operations that we can perform on Lists.

5.1 Addition

There are several ways you can add elements to a list.

# list of numbers
n_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

# 1. adding item at the desired location
# adding element 100 at the fourth location
n_list.insert(3, 100)

# list: [1, 2, 3, 100, 4]
print(n_list)

# 2. adding element at the end of the list
n_list.append(99)

# list: [1, 2, 3, 100, 4, 99]
print(n_list)

# 3. adding several elements at the end of list
# the following statement can also be written like this:
# n_list + [11, 22]
n_list.extend([11, 22])

# list: [1, 2, 3, 100, 4, 99, 11, 22]
print(n_list)

Output:

[1, 2, 3, 100, 4]
[1, 2, 3, 100, 4, 99]
[1, 2, 3, 100, 4, 99, 11, 22]

5.2 Update elements

We can change the values of elements in a List. Lets take an example to understand this:

# list of numbers
n_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

# Changing the value of 3rd item
n_list[2] = 100

# list: [1, 2, 100, 4]
print(n_list)

# Changing the values of 2nd to fourth items
n_list[1:4] = [11, 22, 33]

# list: [1, 11, 22, 33]
print(n_list)

Output:

[1, 2, 100, 4]
[1, 11, 22, 33]

5.3 Delete elements

# list of numbers
n_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

# Deleting 2nd element
del n_list[1]

# list: [1, 3, 4, 5, 6]
print(n_list)

# Deleting elements from 3rd to 4th
del n_list[2:4]

# list: [1, 3, 6]
print(n_list)

# Deleting the whole list
del n_list

Output:

[1, 3, 4, 5, 6]
[1, 3, 6]

5.4 Deleting elements using remove(), pop() and clear() methods

remove(item): Removes specified item from list.
pop(index): Removes the element from the given index.
pop(): Removes the last element.
clear(): Removes all the elements from the list.

# list of chars
ch_list = ['A', 'F', 'B', 'Z', 'O', 'L']

# Deleting the element with value 'B'
ch_list.remove('B')

# list: ['A', 'F', 'Z', 'O', 'L']
print(ch_list)

# Deleting 2nd element
ch_list.pop(1)

# list: ['A', 'Z', 'O', 'L']
print(ch_list)

# Deleting all the elements
ch_list.clear()

# list: []
print(ch_list)

Output:

['A', 'F', 'Z', 'O', 'L']
['A', 'Z', 'O', 'L']
[]