Skip to main content
Practice

Managing Multiple Items with a List

In Python, a List is a data type that allows you to manage multiple values together. You can use lists to manage things like a list of event attendees or items in a shopping cart.

Lists are ordered and each element can be accessed using an index that starts from 0.


How can we create a list?​

Lists are created by placing multiple values, separated by commas (,), within square brackets ([ ]).

The values inside the list can include various data types like numbers, strings, etc.

Example of Creating a List
# List made up of numbers
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

# List made up of strings
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

A list can also contain another list.

This is called a nested list and is useful for representing more complex data structures like matrices.

Example of a Nested List
# Nested list
matrix = [
  [1, 2, 3],
  [4, 5, 6],
  [7, 8, 9]
]

Accessing elements in a list and modifying their values​

Each element in a list is accessed using its numeric index.

Indexing starts at 0, meaning the first element has an index of 0, the second element has an index of 1, the third element has an index of 2, and so on.

Example of Accessing and Modifying List Elements
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# Prints "apple"
print(fruits[0])

# Prints "cherry"
print(fruits[2])

# Modify an element in the list
fruits[1] = "blueberry"

# Prints ["apple", "blueberry", "cherry"]
print(fruits)

You can also access elements from the end of the list by using negative indices.

Example of Accessing from the End of the List
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# Prints "cherry"
print(fruits[-1])

# Prints "banana"
print(fruits[-2])

Want to learn more?

Join CodeFriends Plus membership or enroll in a course to start your journey.