Python

Lists

Lists are an important data type in Python that allow you to store multiple values in a single place. They are similar to arrays in other programming languages, but have some additional features that make them more flexible.

List Creation

To create a list, you can use square brackets and separate each item with a comma. For example:

my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4]

You can also create a list using the list() function:

my_list = list([1, 2, 3, 4])

Lists can contain any data type, including other lists. For example:

my_list = [1, 'a string', 3.14, ['a', 'nested', 'list']]
Indexing

You can access items in a list using an index. Like strings, lists are 0-indexed, meaning that the first item in the list has an index of 0. For example, to access the second item in the list my_list, you would use my_list[1]. You can also use negative indices to access items from the end of the list. For example, my_list[-1] would return the last item in the list.

With a nested list, we can access the inner list by using double square brackets.

my_list = [1, 'a string', 3.14, ['a', 'nested', 'list']]
print(my_list[-1][1])
# Outputs 'nested'
Item Reassignment

You can modify items in a list by reassigning them to a new value using the assignment operator. For example, to change the second item in the list my_list, you could do the following:

my_list[1] = 'a new string'
List Methods

You can also use the append() method to add an item to the end of a list, or the insert() method to add an item at a specific index. For example:

my_list.append(5)
my_list.insert(2, 'another string')

There are many other useful methods for working with lists in Python, including extend(), pop(), and remove(). It is important to understand how to use lists effectively as they are a common data structure used in many different types of programs.