Python List (With Examples)

Python list is a mutable, ordered, and iterable collection of elements. Lists can contain items of different data types, such as integers, floats, strings, and even other lists or custom objects. It is a collection of values enclosed in [ ] and separated by commas.

How to Create a List

You can create a list by enclosing a comma-separated sequence of items within square brackets [].

# Creating a list with integers
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Creating a list with mixed data types
mixed_list = [1, "hello", 3.14, [1, 2, 3]]
print(mixed_list)

Output

[1, 'hello', 3.14, [1, 2, 3]]

How to access list elements

You can access list elements by their index, starting from 0 for the first item using the square brackets [].

# Creating a list with integers
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# Creating a list with mixed data types
mixed_list = [1, "hello", 3.14, [1, 2, 3]]

print(mixed_list[0])
print(mixed_list[1])

Output

1
hello

Modify list elements using their index

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

numbers[0] = 11

print(numbers)

Output

[11, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Adding items to the list using the append() method or the + operator

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

numbers.append(6)
print(numbers)

Output

[11, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Removing elements from the list

You can remove elements from the list using the remove() method, del statement, or pop() method.

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

numbers.remove(2) 
del numbers[0]
popped_item = numbers.pop()

print(numbers)
print(popped_item)

Output

[3, 4]
5

Use list comprehensions to create new lists based on existing lists

numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

squares = [number**2 for number in numbers]

print(squares)

Output

[1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

Lists in Python are flexible and can be used for various purposes, such as storing and processing data, organizing objects, and implementing data structures like stacks and queues.

Check if an Element Exists in a List

You can use the “in” keyword to check if an item exists in the list or not.

dbs = ['Data', 'Base', 'Firebase']

print('D' in dbs)
print('Firebase' in dbs)

Output

False
True

Python List Length

You can use the “len()” function to find the size of a list. For example,

dbs = ['Data', 'Base', 'Firebase']

print(len(dbs))

Output

3

List Methods

Method Description
append() It adds an item to the end of the list
extend() It adds all the items of an iterable to the end of the list
insert() It inserts an item at the specified index
remove() It removes items present at the given index
pop() It returns and removes items present at the given index
clear() It removes all items from the list
index() It returns the index of the first matched item
count() It returns the count of the specified item in the list
sort() It sorts the list in ascending/descending order
reverse() It reverses the item on the list
copy() It returns the shallow copy of the list

That’s it!

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