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])
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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])
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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])
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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 start at the first item:
Example
This example returns the items from the beginning to, but NOT including, "kiwi":
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[:4])
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By leaving out the end value, the range will go on to the end of the list:
Example
This example returns the items from "cherry" to the end:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[2:])
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Range of Negative Indexes
Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from the end of the list:
Example
This example returns the items from "orange" (-4) to, but NOT including "mango" (-1):
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[-4:-1])
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Check if Item Exists
To determine if a specified item is present in a list use the in
keyword:
Example
Check if "apple" is present in the list:
thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
if "apple" in thislist:
print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits list")
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