Python – List
In Python, the list is a collection of items of different data types. It is an ordered sequence of items.
A list object contains one or more items, not necessarily of the same type, which are separated by comma and enclosed in square brackets [].
The following declares a list type variable.
>>> names=[“Jeff”, “Bill”, “Steve”, “Mohan”]
A list can also contain elements of different types.
>>> orderItem=[1, “Jeff”, “Computer”, 75.50, True]
The above list orderItem includes five elements. Each individual element in the sequence is accessed by the index in the square brackets []. An index starts with zero, as shown below.
>>> orderItem=[1, “Jeff”, “Computer”, 75.50, True]
>>> orderItem[0]
1
>>> orderItem[1]
‘Jeff’
>>> orderItem[2]
‘Computer’
>>> orderItem[3]
75.50
>>> orderItem[4]
True
The list object is mutable. It is possible to modify its contents, which will modify the value in the memory.
For instance, item at index 2 in orderItem can be modified as shown below.
>>> orderItem=[1, “Jeff”, “Computer”, 75.50, True]
>>> orderItem[2]=”Laptop”
>>> orderItem
[1, “Jeff”, “Laptop”, 75.50, True]
It will throw an error “index out of range” if the element at the specified index does not exist.
>>> orderItem=[1, “Jeff”, “Computer”, 75.50, True]
>>> orderItem[5]
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “<stdin>”, line 1, in <module>
IndexError: list index out of range
Lists are generally used to store homogenous collections, i.e. items of similar types.
>>> languages=[‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C#’, ‘PHP’]
>>> temperatures=[56, 65, 78]
Use the del keyword to delete the list object.
>>> del languages
>>> languages
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “<stdin>”, line 1, in <module>
NameError: name ‘languages’ is not defined
List Operators
Like the string, the list is also a sequence. Hence, the operators used with strings are also available for use with the list (and tuple also).
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| + Concatenation | Returns a list containing all the elements of the first and the second list. | >>> L1=[1,2,3] >>> L2=[4,5,6] >>> L1+L2 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] |
| * Repetition | Concatenates multiple copies of the same list. | >>> L1*4 [1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3] |
| [] slice | Returns the item at the given index. A negative index counts the position from the right side. | >>> L1=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] >>> L1[3] 4 >>> L1[-2] 5 |
| [ : ] – Range slice | Fetches items in the range specified by the two index operands separated by : symbol. If the first operand is omitted, the range starts from the zero index. | >>> L1=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] >>> L1[1:4] [2, 3, 4] >>> L1[3:] [4, 5, 6] >>> L1[:3] [1, 2, 3] |
| in | Returns true if an item exists in the given list. | >>> L1=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] >>> 4 in L1 True >>> 10 in L1 False |
| not in | Returns true if an item does not exist in the given list. | >>> L1=[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] >>> 5 not in L1 False >>> 10 not in L1 True |
Built-in List Methods
len()
The len() method returns the number of elements in the list/tuple.
>>> L1=[12,45,43,8,35]
>>> len(L1)
5
max()
The max() method returns the largest number, if the list contains numbers. If the list contains strings, the one that comes last in alphabetical order will be returned.
>>> L1=[12,45,43,8,35]
>>> max(L1)
45
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> max(L2)
‘Python’
min()
The min() method returns the smallest number, if the list contains numbers. If the list contains strings, the one that comes first in alphabetical order will be returned.
>>> L1=[12, 45, 43, 8, 35]
>>> min(L1)
8
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> min(L2)
‘C++’
Note that if a list object contains strings as well as numeric items, max() and min() functions throw an error.
>>> L1=[1,’aa’,12.22]
>>> max(L1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “<stdin>”, line 1, in <module>
TypeError: ‘>’ not supported between instances of ‘str’ and ‘int’
append()
Adds an item at the end of the list.
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> L2.append(‘PHP’)
>>> L2
[‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’, ‘PHP’]
insert()
Inserts an item in a list at the specified index.
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> L2.insert(1,’Perl’)
>>> L2
[‘Python’, ‘Perl’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
remove()
Removes a specified object from the list.
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Perl’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> L2.remove(‘Java’)
>>> L2
[‘Python’, ‘Perl’, ‘C++’]
pop()
Removes and returns the last object in the list.
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Perl’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> L2.pop()
‘C++’
>>> L2
[‘Python’, ‘Perl’, ‘Java’]
reverse()
Reverses the order of the items in a list.
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘Perl’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
>>> L2.reverse()
>>> L2
[‘C++’, ‘Java’, ‘Perl’, ‘Python’]
sort()
Rearranges the items in the list according to the alphabetical order. Default is the ascending order.
For descending order, put reverse=True as an argument in the function bracket.
>>> L2=[‘Python’, ‘C++’, ‘Java’, ‘Ruby’]
>>> L2.sort()
>>> L2
[‘C++’, ‘Java’, ‘Python’, ‘Ruby’]
>>> L2.sort(reverse=True)
>>> L2
[‘Ruby’, ‘Python’, ‘Java’, ‘C++’]
The following utility functions help in converting one sequence data type to another.
list()
Converts a tuple or string to a list object.
>>> t2=(‘python’, ‘java’, ‘C++’)
>>> list(t2)
[‘python’, ‘java’, ‘C++’]
>>> s1=”python-tutorials”
>>> list(s1)
[‘T’, ‘u’, ‘t’, ‘o’, ‘r’, ‘i’, ‘a’, ‘l’, ‘s’, ‘T’, ‘e’, ‘a’, ‘c’, ‘h’, ‘e’, ‘r’]
tuple()
Converts a list or string to a tuple object.
>>> L2=[‘C++’, ‘Java’, ‘Python’, ‘Ruby’]
>>> tuple(L2)
(‘C++’, ‘Java’, ‘Python’, ‘Ruby’)
>>> s1=”python-tutorials”
>>> tuple(s1)
(‘T’, ‘u’, ‘t’, ‘o’, ‘r’, ‘i’, ‘a’, ‘l’, ‘s’, ‘T’, ‘e’, ‘a’, ‘c’, ‘h’, ‘e’, ‘r’)