Python Tutorials · Python Lists

Access List Items

Learn all about Access List Items in this comprehensive tutorial.

5 min read beginner

•List items are indexed and you can access them by referring to the index number:
•To determine if a specified item is present in a list use the in keyword:

Access Items

List items are indexed and you can access them by referring to the index number:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist[1])

Note: Note: The first item has index 0.

Negative indexing means start from the end

-1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(thislist[-1])

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.

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", 
  "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[2:5])

Note: Note: The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 5 (not included).

Note: Remember that the first item has index 0.

By leaving out the start value, the range will start at the first item:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", 
  "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[:4])

By leaving out the end value, the range will go on to the end of the list:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", 
  "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[2:])

Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from the end of the list:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", 
  "kiwi", "melon", "mango"]
print(thislist[-4:-1])

To determine if a specified item is present in a list use the in keyword:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
  if "apple" in thislist:  print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits list")

2 questions

Which of the following is true about Access List Items?

It is strictly typedIt is evaluated at runtimeIt requires explicit memory managementIt is deprecated

What is the most common pitfall when working with Access List Items?

SyntaxErrorIndentationErrorNameErrorTypeError

Answer all questions to submit.