Lists are one of the most versatile and commonly used data structures in Python. They provide a flexible way to store and manipulate collections of items. Whether you're working with numbers, text, or any other data, lists can be your go-to tool. In this article, we will dive deep into lists, exploring their features, operations, and best practices with practical examples.

  1. Creating a List:

    • Example 1: Creating a list of numbers

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

    • Example 2: Creating a list of strings

      fruits = ["apple", "banana", "orange"]

  2. Accessing List Elements:

    • Example 1: Accessing individual elements by index

      print(numbers[0]) # Output: 1

      print(fruits[1]) # Output: "banana"

    • Example 2: Slicing a list to retrieve a sublist

      print(numbers[1:4]) # Output: [2, 3, 4]

  3. Modifying List Elements:

    • Example 1: Modifying an element at a specific index

      fruits[2] = "grape"

      print(fruits) # Output: ["apple", "banana", "grape"]

    • Example 2: Appending an element to the end of the list

      numbers.append(6) print(numbers) # Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

  4. List Operations:

    • Example 1: Concatenating two lists

      combined = numbers + fruits

      print(combined) # Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, "apple", "banana", "grape"]

    • Example 2: Checking if an element exists in a list

      print("apple" in fruits) # Output: True

  5. List Methods:

    • Example 1: Sorting a list

      numbers.sort()

      print(numbers) # Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

    • Example 2: Removing an element from a list

      fruits.remove("banana")

      print(fruits) # Output: ["apple", "grape"]

  6. List Comprehensions:

    • Example 1: Creating a new list based on an existing list

      squared = [num ** 2 for num in numbers]

      print(squared) # Output: [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

    • Example 2: Filtering a list using a condition

      evens = [num for num in numbers if num % 2 == 0]

      print(evens) # Output: [2, 4]