Python Lists

A Python list is, as the name implies, a list of items. A list can be an alternative to using multiple variables.

Let’s say I want to use the IP addresses of different devices in my Python program. I could create a new variable for each and assign a string:

It might be easier, however, to use a list. Here’s an example:

Above, we have a list with strings but you can add almost everything in a list. For example, numbers:

Even a combination of strings and numbers is possible:

Access items in list

I can access items in the list by adding the index number between brackets []. For example:

Python starts counting from 0, that’s the first item in the list.

I can also start from the last item in the list by supplying a negative number. The item on the far right has index number -1. Here is an example:

Adding or removing items in list

We can also add or remove items from our list.

Add item

We can add an item to our list with append. Here’s an example:

We successfully added another IP address to our list.

Remove item by index number

How about removing an item from our list? We can do this with the popmethod. Let’s remove the first item:

The first item on our list is now gone.

Remove item by name

We can also remove an item by name. Here is an example:

Nested Lists

We have seen that we can add strings and numbers to a list, but you can also add a list to a list. Here is an example:

The new “routers_switches” list contains our two existing lists.

Concatenate lists

It’s also possible to combine (concatenate) two lists into a new list. Here’s how:

Our “all_ip_addresses” list contains the content of both existing lists.

List Functions

There are some useful functions we can use on our lists. Let’s walk through them.

Len

We can retrieve the number of items in the list with the len function:

Min and Max

We can retrieve the highest or lowest value of a list. This works with integers in a list:

It also works with strings in a list that you want to sort alphabetically:

Convert data type into list

We can also convert other data types into a list with the list function. Here’s how to convert a string into a list:

Turning a word into a list with separate letters might be useful when you want to play a game of Hangman. We can also use the split function which supports a delimiter. One example where this is useful is a CSV file where we use a comma as the delimiter. Let me give you an example:

We specify the comma as the delimiter and we end up with a list. This CSV line is ready for further processing in our program.

Conclusion

You have learned how to work with Python lists:

• A list stores multiple items. This includes strings, numbers, lists, etc.
• You can access an item in a list by specifying the list and the index number between brackets:
  • The first item in the list uses index number 0.
  • With negative numbers, you can access items starting from the last items on the list.
• We can add items to an existing list with append.
• You can remove items:
  • Pop requires the index number.
  • Remove requires the value of the item in the list.
• Concatenation allows us to combine two lists.
• Python supports useful list functions:
  • Len: shows us the number of items in the list.
  • Min and max: show the lowest or highest value in the list.
• We can convert other data types into a list. The split function allows us to use a delimiter.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you have any questions, please leave a comment.