list notation python code example

Example 1: python how to slice lists

# Basic syntax:
your_list[start:stop:step]

# Note, Python is 0-indexed
# Note, start is inclusive but stop is exclusive
# Note, if you leave start blank, it defaults to 0. If you leave stop
# 	blank, it defaults to the length of the list. If you leave step
# 	blank, it defaults to 1.
# Note, a negative start/stop refers to the index starting from the end
# 	of the list. Negative step returns list elements from right to left 

# Example usage:
your_list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
your_list[0:5:1]
--> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4] # This illustrates how stop is not inclusive

# Example usage 2:
your_list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
your_list[::2] # Return list items for even indices
--> [0, 2, 4]

# Example usage 3:
your_list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
your_list[1::2] # Return list items for odd indices
--> [1, 3, 5]

# Example usage 4:
your_list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
your_list[4:-6:-1] # Return list items from 4th element from the left to 
#	the 6th element from the right going from right to left
--> [4, 3, 2, 1]
# Note, from the right, lists are 1-indexed, not 0-indexed

Example 2: python list slice sybtax

# [start:stop:step]
# for example ...
l = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
l[1:4] # elements from 1 (inclusive) to 4 (exclusive)
l[2:5:2] # elements from 2 (inclusive) to 5 (exclusive) going up by 2