Python From Scratch

Python Lists
Lesson 6 Content
• Python Lists • Python - Loop Lists
• List • Loop Through a List
• List Items • Loop Through the Index Numbers
• Ordered • Using a While Loop
• Changeable • Looping Using List Comprehension
• Allow Duplicates • Python - List Comprehension
• List Length
• List Items - Data Types • The Syntax
• type() • Condition
• The list() Constructor • Iterable
• Python Collections (Arrays) • Expression

• Python - Access List Items • Python - Sort Lists

• Access Items • Sort List Alphanumerically

• Negative Indexing • Sort Descending
• Range of Indexes • Customize Sort Function
• Range of Negative Indexes • Case Insensitive Sort
• Check if Item Exists • Reverse Order

• Python - Change List Items • Python - Copy Lists

• Change Item Value • Python - Join Lists

• Change a Range of Item Values
• Python - List Methods
• Insert Items
• Python - List Exercises
• Python - Add List Items
• Append Items
• nsert Items
• Extend List
• Add Any Iterable
• Python - Remove List Items
• Remove Specified Item
• Remove Specified Index
• Clear the List
 Python Lists
mylist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
List
Lists are used to store multiple items in a single variable.
Lists are one of 4 built-in data types in Python used to store collections of data, the other 3 are
Tuple, Set, and Dictionary, all with different qualities and usage.
Lists are created using square brackets:
Example
Create a List:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist)

List Items
List items are ordered, changeable, and allow duplicate values.
List items are indexed, the first item has index [0], the second item has index [1] etc.

Ordered
When we say that lists are ordered, it means that the items have a defined order, and that order will not
change.
If you add new items to a list, the new items will be placed at the end of the list.
Note: There are some list methods that will change the order, but in general: the order of the items
will not change.

Changeable
The list is changeable, meaning that we can change, add, and remove items in a list after it has been
created.

Allow Duplicates
Since lists are indexed, lists can have items with the same value:
Example
Lists allow duplicate values:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple", "cherry"]
print(thislist)

List Length
To determine how many items a list has, use the len() function:
Example
Print the number of items in the list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(len(thislist))
List Items - Data Types
List items can be of any data type:
Example
String, int and boolean data types:
list1 = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
list2 = [1, 5, 7, 9, 3]
list3 = [True, False, False]

A list can contain different data types:

Example
A list with strings, integers and boolean values:
list1 = ["abc", 34, True, 40, "male"]

type()
From Python's perspective, lists are defined as objects with the data type 'list': <class 'list'>
Example
What is the data type of a list?
mylist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(type(mylist))

The list() Constructor

It is also possible to use the list() constructor when creating a new list.
Example
Using the list() constructor to make a List:
thislist = list(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) # note the double round-brackets
print(thislist)

Python Collections (Arrays)

There are four collection data types in the Python programming language:
• List is a collection which is ordered and changeable. Allows duplicate members.
• Tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable. Allows duplicate members.
• Set is a collection which is unordered, unchangeable*, and unindexed. No duplicate members.
• Dictionary is a collection which is ordered** and changeable. No duplicate members.

*Set items are unchangeable, but you can remove and/or add items whenever you like.

**As of Python version 3.7, dictionaries are ordered. In Python 3.6 and earlier, dictionaries
are unordered.

When choosing a collection type, it is useful to understand the properties of that type. Choosing the
right type for a particular data set could mean retention of meaning, and, it could mean an increase in
efficiency or security.
 Python - Access List Items
Access Items
List items are indexed and you can access them by referring to the index number:
Example
Print the second item of the list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist[1])
Note: The first item has index 0.
Negative Indexing
Negative indexing means start from the end -1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.
Example
Print the last item of the list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist[-1])
Range of Indexes
You can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and where to end the range.
When specifying a range, the return value will be a new list with the specified items.
Example
Return the third, fourth, and fifth item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[2:5])
Note: The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 5 (not included).
Remember that the first item has index 0.
By leaving out the start value, the range will By leaving out the end value, the range will go on
start at the first item: to the end of the list:
Example Example
This example returns the items from the This example returns the items from "cherry" to
beginning to, but NOT including, "kiwi": the end:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi",
"kiwi", "melon", "mango"] "melon", "mango"]

print(thislist[:4]) print(thislist[2:])

Range of Negative Indexes Check if Item Exists

Specify negative indexes if you want to start the To determine if a specified item is present in a
search from the end of the list: list use the in keyword:
Example Example
This example returns the items from "orange" Check if "apple" is present in the list:
(-4) to, but NOT including "mango" (-1): thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", if "apple" in thislist:
"kiwi", "melon", "mango"] print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits list")
print(thislist[-4:-1])
 Python - Change List Items
Change Item Value
To change the value of a specific item, refer to the index number:
Example
Change the second item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist[1] = "blackcurrant"
print(thislist)

Change a Range of Item Values

To change the value of items within a specific range, define a list with the new values, and refer to the
range of index numbers where you want to insert the new values:
Example
Change the values "banana" and "cherry" with the values "blackcurrant" and "watermelon":
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "mango"]
thislist[1:3] = ["blackcurrant", "watermelon"]
print(thislist)
If you insert more items than you replace, Example
the new items will be inserted where you Change the second value by replacing it
specified, and the remaining items will with two new values:
move accordingly: thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist[1:2] = ["blackcurrant", "watermelon"]
print(thislist)

Note: The length of the list will change when the number of items inserted does not match the number
of items replaced.

If you insert less items than you replace, the Example

new items will be inserted where you Change the second and third value by replacing
specified, and the remaining items will move it with one value:
accordingly: thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist[1:3] = ["watermelon"]
print(thislist)
Insert Items
To insert a new list item, without replacing any of the existing values, we can use the insert() method.
The insert() method inserts an item at the specified index:
Example
Insert "watermelon" as the third item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.insert(2, "watermelon")
print(thislist)
Note: As a result of the example above, the list will now contain 4 items.
 Python - Add List Items
Append Items
To add an item to the end of the list, use the append() method:
Example
Using the append() method to append an item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.append("orange")
print(thislist)

Insert Items
To insert a list item at a specified index, use the insert() method.
The insert() method inserts an item at the specified index:
Example
Insert an item as the second position:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.insert(1, "orange")
print(thislist)

Note: As a result of the examples above, the lists will now contain 4 items.

Extend List
To append elements from another list to the current list, use the extend() method.
Example
Add the elements of tropical to thislist:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
tropical = ["mango", "pineapple", "papaya"]
thislist.extend(tropical)
print(thislist)
The elements will be added to the end of the list.

Add Any Iterable

The extend() method does not have to append lists, you can add any iterable object (tuples, sets,
dictionaries etc.).
Example
Add elements of a tuple to a list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thistuple = ("kiwi", "orange")
thislist.extend(thistuple)
print(thislist)
 Python - Remove List Items
Remove Specified Item
The remove() method removes the specified item.
Example
Remove "banana":
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.remove("banana")
print(thislist)

Remove Specified Index

The pop() method removes the specified index.
Example
Remove the second item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.pop(1)
print(thislist)
If you do not specify the index, the pop() method removes the last item.
Example
Remove the last item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.pop()
print(thislist)
The del keyword also removes the specified index:
Example
Remove the first item:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
del thislist[0]
print(thislist)
The del keyword can also delete the list completely.
Example
Delete the entire list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
del thislist
Clear the List
The clear() method empties the list.
The list still remains, but it has no content.
Example
Clear the list content:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
thislist.clear()
print(thislist)
 Python - Loop Lists
Loop Through a List
You can loop through the list items by using a for loop:
Example
Print all items in the list, one by one:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
for x in thislist:
print(x)

Loop Through the Index Numbers

You can also loop through the list items by referring to their index number.
Use the range() and len() functions to create a suitable iterable.
Example
Print all items by referring to their index number:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
for i in range(len(thislist)):
print(thislist[i])

The iterable created in the example above is [0, 1, 2].

Using a While Loop

You can loop through the list items by using a while loop.
Use the len() function to determine the length of the list, then start at 0 and loop your way through the
list items by referring to their indexes.
Remember to increase the index by 1 after each iteration.
Example
Print all items, using a while loop to go through all the index numbers
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
i=0
while i < len(thislist):
print(thislist[i])
i=i+1

Looping Using List Comprehension

List Comprehension offers the shortest syntax for looping through lists:
Example
A short hand for loop that will print all items in a list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
[print(x) for x in thislist]
 Python - List Comprehension
List Comprehension
List comprehension offers a shorter syntax when you want to create a new list based on the values of an
existing list.
Example:
Based on a list of fruits, you want a new list, containing only the fruits with the letter "a" in the name.
Without list comprehension you will have to write a for statement with a conditional test inside:
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "kiwi", "mango"] With list comprehension you can do all that
newlist = []
with only one line of code:
for x in fruits:
if "a" in x: Example
newlist.append(x) fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "kiwi", "mango"]
newlist = [x for x in fruits if "a" in x]
print(newlist) print(newlist)
The Syntax
newlist = [expression for item in iterable if condition == True]
The return value is a new list, leaving the old list unchanged.

Condition Iterable
The condition is like a filter that only accepts the The iterable can be any iterable object, like a
items that valuate to True. list, tuple, set etc.
Example Example
Only accept items that are not "apple": You can use the range() function to create an
newlist = [x for x in fruits if x != "apple"] iterable:
newlist = [x for x in range(10)]
The condition if x != "apple" will return True for
all elements other than "apple", making the new list Same example, but with a condition:
contain all fruits except "apple". Example
The condition is optional and can be omitted: Accept only numbers lower than 5:
Example newlist = [x for x in range(10) if x < 5]
With no if statement:
newlist = [x for x in fruits]
Expression
The expression is the current item in the iteration, but it is also the outcome, which you can manipulate
before it ends up like a list item in the new list:
The expression can also contain conditions, not like a
Example
filter, but as a way to manipulate the outcome:
Set the values in the new list to upper case:
Example
newlist = [x.upper() for x in fruits]
You can set the outcome to whatever you like: Return "orange" instead of "banana":
Example newlist = [x if x != "banana" else "orange" for x in fruits]
Set all values in the new list to 'hello': The expression in the example above says:
"Return the item if it is not banana, if it is banana
newlist = ['hello' for x in fruits]
return orange".
 Python - Sort Lists
Sort List Alphanumerically
List objects have a sort() method that will sort the list alphanumerically, ascending, by default:
Example
Sort the list alphabetically: Sort the list numerically:
thislist = ["orange", "mango", "kiwi", "pineapple", "banana"] thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]
thislist.sort() thislist.sort()
print(thislist) print(thislist)

Sort Descending
To sort descending, use the keyword argument reverse = True:
Example
Sort the list descending: Sort the list descending:
thislist = ["orange", "mango", "kiwi", "pineapple", "banana"] thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]
thislist.sort(reverse = True) thislist.sort(reverse = True)
print(thislist) print(thislist)

Customize Sort Function

You can also customize your own function by using the keyword argument key = function.
The function will return a number that will be used to sort the list (the lowest number first):
Example
Sort the list based on how close the number is to 50:
def myfunc(n):
return abs(n - 50)
thislist = [100, 50, 65, 82, 23]
thislist.sort(key = myfunc)
print(thislist)

Case Insensitive Sort Reverse Order

By default the sort() method is case sensitive, resulting What if you want to reverse the order of a
in all capital letters being sorted before lower case list, regardless of the alphabet?
letters: The reverse() method reverses the current
Example sorting order of the elements.
Case sensitive sorting can give an unexpected result:
thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"] Example
thislist.sort() Reverse the order of the list items:
print(thislist)
Luckily we can use built-in functions as key functions thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"]
when sorting a list. thislist.reverse()
So if you want a case-insensitive sort function, use print(thislist)
str.lower as a key function:
Example
Perform a case-insensitive sort of the list:
thislist = ["banana", "Orange", "Kiwi", "cherry"]
thislist.sort(key = str.lower)
print(thislist)
 Python - Copy Lists
Copy a List
You cannot copy a list simply by typing list2 = list1, because: list2 will only be a reference to list1, and
changes made in list1 will automatically also be made in list2.
There are ways to make a copy, one way is to use the built-in List method copy().
Example
Make a copy of a list with the copy() method:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
mylist = thislist.copy()
print(mylist)
Another way to make a copy is to use the built-in method list().
Example
Make a copy of a list with the list() method:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
mylist = list(thislist)
print(mylist)

Python - Copy Lists

Copy a List
You cannot copy a list simply by typing list2 = list1, because: list2 will only be a reference to list1, and
changes made in list1 will automatically also be made in list2.

There are ways to make a copy, one way is to use the built-in List method copy().
Example
Make a copy of a list with the copy() method:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
mylist = thislist.copy()
print(mylist)

Another way to make a copy is to use the built-in method list().

Example
Make a copy of a list with the list() method:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
mylist = list(thislist)
print(mylist)
 Python - Join Lists
Join Two Lists
There are several ways to join, or concatenate, two or more lists in Python.
One of the easiest ways are by using the + operator.
Example
Join two list:
list1 = ["a", "b", "c"]
list2 = [1, 2, 3]
list3 = list1 + list2
print(list3)
Another way to join two lists is by appending all the items from list2 into list1, one by one:
Example
Append list2 into list1:
list1 = ["a", "b" , "c"]
list2 = [1, 2, 3]
for x in list2:
list1.append(x)
print(list1)
Or you can use the extend() method, which purpose is to add elements from one list to another list:
Example
Use the extend() method to add list2 at the end of list1:
list1 = ["a", "b" , "c"]
list2 = [1, 2, 3]

list1.extend(list2)
print(list1)

Python List Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises
Now you have learned a lot about lists, and how to use them in Python.
Are you ready for a test?
Try to insert the missing part to make the code work as expected:
Exercise:
Print the second item in the fruits list.
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print( )