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Python Lists and List Manipulation Tutorial

Python lists can store an ordered collection of items, or elements, of varying types. They are often used to compile multiple items into a single, mutable variable, which is helpful for retrieving items, specifying outputs or performing calculations quickly. Lists are also a type of built-in data structure in Python (along with tuples, sets and dictionaries), which is a specified way of storing and formatting data.

8 Ways to Modify a Python List
  1. Index method
  2. Count method
  3. Sort method
  4. Append method
  5. Remove method
  6. Pop method
  7. Extend method
  8. Insert method

If you’re curious about using lists in Python, here’s how to create one and modify them in different ways.

A tutorial on Python list and list manipulation. | Video: Michael Galarnyk How to Create a List in Python

To create a list in Python, write a set of items within square brackets ([]) and separate each item with a comma. Items in a list can be any basic object type found in Python, including integers, strings, floating point values or boolean values.

For example, to create a list named “z” that holds the integers 3, 7, 4 and 2, you would write:

# Define a list
z = [3, 7, 4, 2]

The “z” list defined above has items that are all of the same type (integer or int), but as mentioned, all the items in a list do not need to be of the same type as you can see below.

# Define a list
heterogenousElements = [3, True, 'Michael', 2.0]

This list contains an integer (int), a bool, a string and a float.

Features of Lists in Python

All Python lists include the following features or characteristics:

How to Access Values in a Python List

Each item in a list has an assigned index value. It’s important to note that Python is a zero-indexed based language. All this means is that the first item in the list starts at index 0 and ascends accordingly. In the example list, “z,” the indices of each list item would look like this:

Defining a list. The second row in this table index is how you access items in the list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

To access an item value, print the index of the associated item in the list. As an example, say you wanted to access the first item from the list “z,” shown in blue below:

Access item at index 0 (in blue). | Image: Michael Galarnyk

To access this item, you would use the item’s index, 0, and write:

# Define a list
z = [3, 7, 4, 2]
# Access the first item of a list at index 0
print(z[0])
Output of accessing the item at index 0. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

Python also supports negative indexing. Negative indexing starts at the end. It can be more convenient at times to use negative indexing to get the last item in the list because you don’t have to know the length of the list to access the last item.

Accessing the item at the last index. | Image: Michael Galarnyk
# print last item in the list
print(z[-1])
Output of accessing the last item in the List. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

As a reminder, you could also access the same item using positive indexes, as seen below.

Alternative way of accessing the last item in the list z. | Image: Michael Galarnyk How to Slice a Python List

Slices are good for getting a subset of values in your list. For the example code below, it will return a list with the items from index 0 up to and not including index 2.

First index is inclusive before the :, and the last after the : is not. | Image: Michael Galarnyk
# Define a list
z = [3, 7, 4, 2]
print(z[0:2])
Slice of a list syntax. | Image: Michael Galarnyk A sliced list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk
# everything up to but not including index 3
print(z[:3])
Printing a sliced list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk A sliced list printed. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The code below returns a list with items from index 1 to the end of the list

# index 1 to end of list
print(z[1:])
Printing a sliced list at index 1. | Image: Michael Galarnyk How to Update an Item in a Python List Updating an item in a list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

Lists in Python are mutable. After defining a list, it’s possible to update the individual items in a list.

# Defining a list
z = [3, 7, 4, 2]
# Update the item at index 1 with the string "fish"
z[1] = "fish"
print(z)
Code to modify an item in a list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk Python List Modification Methods

Python lists have different methods that help you modify a list. This section of the tutorial just goes over various python list methods.

1. Index Method

The index method returns the first index at which a value occurs. Say you want to get the index of the first occurrence of “4” in this list:

Modifying a list with the index method. | Image: Michael Galarnyk
# Define a list
z = [4, 1, 5, 4, 10, 4]
Modifying a list with the index method at index 4. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

In the code below, using index() will return 0.

print(z.index(4))
Printing an index list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

You can also specify where you want to start your search if there are multiple of the same list item.

Modifying a list with the index method. | Image: Michael Galarnyk
print(z.index(4, 3))
Printing an index from a start point. | Image: Michael Galarnyk 2. Count Method

Just like how it sounds, the count method counts the number of times a value occurs in a list

random_list = [4, 1, 5, 4, 10, 4]
random_list.count(5)
Modifying a list with the count method. | Image: Michael Galarnyk 3. Sort Method Sort a Python List. the actual code would be: z.sort(). | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The sort method sorts and alters the original list in place.

z = [3, 7, 4, 2]
z.sort()
print(z)
Sorting a list and printing z. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The code above sorts a list from low to high. The code below shows that you can also sort a list from high to low.

Sort a python list from high to low. | Image: Michael Galarnyk
# Sorting and Altering original list
# high to low
z.sort(reverse = True)
print(z)
Results of sorting a list in reverse. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

As an aside, I should mention that you can also sort a list of strings from “a-z” and “z-a”.

More on Sorting in Python: 4 Python Tools to Simplify Your Life

4. Append Method Add the value 3 to the end of the list. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The append method adds an element to the end of a list. This happens in place.

z = [7, 4, 3, 2]
z.append(3)
print(z)
Appended list result. | Image: Michael Galarnyk 5. Remove Method Remove method in lists. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The remove method removes the first occurrence of a value in a list.

z = [7, 4, 3, 2, 3]
z.remove(2)
print(z)
Removing value 2 from index z. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

Code removes the first occurrence of the value 2 from the list z.

6. Pop Method z.pop(1) removes the value at index 1 and returns the value 4. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The pop method removes an item at the index you provide. This method will also return the item you removed from the list. If you don’t provide an index, it will default to removing the item at the last index.

z = [7, 4, 3, 3]
print(z.pop(1))
print(z)
Print method in Python lists. | Image: Michael Galarnyk 7. Extend Method

This method extends a list by appending items. The benefit of this is you can add lists together.

z = [7, 3, 3]
z.extend([4,5])
print(z)
Add the list [4, 5] to the end of the list z. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

Alternatively, the same thing could be accomplished by using the + operator.

print([1,2] + [3,4])
Results of an extended list in Python. | Image: Michael Galarnyk 8. Insert Method Insert the list [1,2] at index 4. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

The insert method inserts an item before the index you provide.

z = [7, 3, 3, 4, 5]
z.insert(4, [1, 2])
print(z)
Insert method in Python lists. | Image: Michael Galarnyk

What are lists in Python?

Lists are a type of data structure in Python that can store an ordered collection of items, or elements, of varying types.

What is the syntax for lists in Python?

The syntax for lists in Python is represented by square brackets, or [ ].

How do lists work in Python?

Lists in Python are ordered, mutable and can contain items of different types at the same time. Each item in a Python list also has an associated index, where the first item's index is 0 and ascends accordingly for each following item.

How to create a Python list?

To create a Python list, enclose a set of items in square brackets ([ ]), separate each item with a comma, and assign the list to a variable.

As an example, this would look like:

example_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]


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