k = [1, 3, 5] # a list is a sequence of values m = [7] # a list with just one element n = [] # an empty list (no elements) p = ['a', 3, 2.9] # list can contain mixed types x = [1, 2] + [7, 8] # -> [1, 2, 7, 8] lists can be added y = [0]*5 # -> [0, 0, 0, 0, 0] or multiplied z = [5, 3]*3 # -> [5, 3, 5, 3, 5, 3]
# # A tuple is like a list but it is immutable # (the contents of a tuple cannot be changed after creating it) # t = (1, 3, 5) # a tuple is a sequence of values m = (7,) # a tuple with just one element - comma required v = (7) # -> 7 (without the comma, it is just # a number in brackets) n = () # an empty tuple (no elements) p = ('a', 3, 2.9) # tuple can contain mixed types x = (1, 2) + (7, 8) # -> (1, 2, 7, 8) tuples can be added y = (0)*5 # -> (0, 0, 0, 0, 0) or multiplied z = (5, 3)*3 # -> (5, 3, 5, 3, 5, 3)
# # Reading elements works similarly for lists or tuples # First lists: # k = [1, 3, 5] k[0] # -> 1 (the first element, # elements are numbered from 0) k[2] # -> 5 (the third element) k[3] # ERROR, there is no fourth element k[-1] # 5 (the last element, short for len-1) k[-2] # 3 (the second to last element, short for len-2) # # Tuples are the same: # t = (1, 3, 5) t[0] # -> 1 (the first element, # elements are numbered from 0) t[2] # -> 5 (the third element) t[3] # ERROR, there is no fourth element t[-1] # 5 (the last element, short for len-1) t[-2] # 3 (the second to last element, short for len-2) # # Reading slices (also works for tuples in the same way) # m = [2, 4, 6, 8] m[1:3] # [4, 6] (reads from element 1 up to # but not including element 3) m[2:] # [6, 8] (reads from element 2 to the end) m[:3] # [2, 4, 6] (reads from start up to # but not including element 3) m[:] # [2, 4, 6, 8] (reads from start to end) y = x[:] # creates a shallow copy of x and assigns to y # if x is a list it creates a list # if x is a tuple it creates a tuple lst = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] lst[1:6:2] # [2, 4, 6] (reads from element 1 up to but not # including element 6, in steps of 2) lst[5:2:-1] # [6, 5, 4] (reads from element 5 down to but not # including element 2, in steps of -1) lst[::-1] # Counts from the end of the list to the start of # the list is steps of -1, ie it creates a # reversed copy [8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
# # Functions that return information about a sequence will # work with lists or tuples # k = [1, 3, 2, 1, 2, 5] len(k) # -> 6 the length of the list/tuple k.count(1) # -> 2 (the value 1 appears 2 times in k) k.count(8) # -> 0 (the value 8 isn't in k) 1 in k # -> True (1 appears in k at least once) 8 in k # -> False (8 does not appear in k) k.index(3) # -> 1 (value 3 first appears at position 1) k.index(2, 3) # -> 4 (searches for the first value 2 in the # list from position 3 onwards) k.index(1, 2, 4) # -> 3 (searches for the first value 1 in the # list between positions 2 and 4) k.index(7) # ValueError (because 7 is not present) k.copy() # creates a shallow copy of the list or tuple
# # These only work with tuples (except unpacking works with lists too) # t = 1, 2 # creates a tuple (1, 2) u = 5, # creates a tuple (5,) v = () # there is no packing syntax for empty tuples a, b = t # unpacks t into a and b: sets a = 1, b = 2 # the number of variables must match the number of # values in the tuple # this also works with lists w = (5, 6, 7, 8) a, *b, c = w # set a = 5, b = [6, 7], c = 8 # *b takes all spare values as a list x, y = 1, 2 # multiple assignment, sets x = 1, y = 2 # actually 1, 2 is packed into a tuple # then unpacked x, y = y, x # swap values of x and y # actually x, y is packed into a tuple # then unpacked in swapped order
# # These functions modify the list, so cannot be used with tuples # k = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9] k[1] = 4 # k -> [1, 4, 5, 7, 9] # sets value of element 1 k[1:4] = [0, 0, 0] # k -> [1, 0, 0, 0, 9] # replace a slice with new values k.append(9) # k -> [1, 7, 5, 9] (adds value to end of list) k.extend([10, 11, 12]) # k -> [1, 7, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12] # joins sequence to end of list m = [0, 0, 0] m.insert(1, 5) # m -> [0, 5, 0, 0] # insert 5 at index 1 m.insert(0, 6) # m -> [6, 0, 5, 0, 0] # insert 6 at start (index 0) m.insert(len(m), 7) # m -> [6, 0, 5, 0, 0, 7] # insert 7 at end (index len(m)) n = [2, 4, 6, 4, 8, 10] n.remove(4) # n -> [2, 6, 4, 8, 10] # remove first element with value 4 # error id not found n.pop() # -> 10 # n -> [2, 6, 4, 8] # removes last element and returns its value n.pop(2) # -> 4 # n -> [2, 6, 8] # removes element at index and returns its value n.clear() # n -> [] (clear all elements) p = [10, 11, 12, 13, 14] del p[1] # p -> [10, 12, 13, 14] # remove element 1 # similar to pop but doesn't return a value del p[1:4] # p -> [10, 14] # remove a slice del p[:] # p -> [] # remove all elments, equivalent to clear
If you found this article useful, you might be interested in the book Functional Programming in Python, or other books, by the same author.
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