Python - Access List Items

Access Items

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

Print the second item of the list:

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

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.

Print the last item of the list:

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.

Return the third, fourth, and fifth item:

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

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:

This example returns the items from the beginning to, but NOT including, "kiwi":

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:

This example returns the items from "cherry" to the end:

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:

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])

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

Check if "apple" is present in the list:

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