SEQUENCES: STRINGS,LISTS AND TUPLES
What is a sequence?
A sequence is an ordered collection of objects
We’ve seen one example of a sequence already: strings are ordered
collections of characters
As we’ll see, python also allows for sequences of arbitrary types
Strings
A string is a sequence of characters
Strings are constructed with quotes
o Strings can be constructed with single quotes, double quotes, or triple
quotes
my_string = 'a sequence of characters'
my_string = "a sequence of characters"
my_string = '''a sequence of characters'''
Triple quoted strings can span multiple lines
single_quote_string = 'a string on one line'
triple_quote_string = '''a string
on two lines'''
Strings can also be constructed with the str() function
string_from_int = str(25)
print(string_from_int)
Output:
'25'
Can you + and * strings?
What do you expect the value of full_name to be here?
first_name = 'John'
last_name = 'Smith'
full_name = first_name + ' ' + last_name
Solution
Output:
'John Smith'
Adding two strings joins them together
This is called concatenation
What does '3' * 10 produce? Is it what you expect? What about '3' * '10'?
Solution
'3' * 10 = '3333333333'
'3' * '10' gives a TypeError
Multiplying a string an integer N concatenates N copies of the string
Multiplying a string by a string is not allowed
Lists
A list stores many values in a single structure.
Doing calculations with a hundred variables
called pressure_001, pressure_002, etc., would be at least as slow as doing
them by hand.
Use a list to store many values together.
o Contained within square brackets [...].
o Values separated by commas ,.
Output:
teen_primes = [12, 13, 17, 23]
Appending items to a list lengthens it.
Use list_name.append() to add items to the end of a list.
primes = [2, 3, 5]
print('primes is initially:', primes)
[Link](7)
[Link](9)
print('primes has become:', primes)
Output:
primes is initially: [2, 3, 5]
primes has become: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9]
append is a method of lists.
o Like a function, but tied to a particular object.
Use object_name.method_name to call methods.
o Deliberately resembles the way we refer to things in a library.
We will meet other methods of lists as we go along.
o Use help(list) for a preview.
extend is similar to append, but it allows you to combine two lists. For
example:
teen_primes = [11, 13, 17, 19]
middle_aged_primes = [37, 41, 43, 47]
print('primes is currently:', primes)
[Link](teen_primes)
print('primes has now become:', primes)
[Link](middle_aged_primes)
print('primes has finally become:', primes)
Output:
primes is currently: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9]
primes has now become: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19]
primes has finally become: [2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, [37, 41, 43, 47]]
Note that while extend maintains the “flat” structure of the list, appending a list to
a list makes the result two-dimensional.
The empty list contains no values.
Use [] on its own to represent a list that doesn’t contain any values.
o “The zero of lists.”
Helpful as a starting point for collecting values (which we will see in a later
episode).
Lists may contain values of different types.
A single list may contain numbers, strings, and anything else.
goals = [1, 'Create lists.', 2, 'Extract items from lists.', 3, 'Modify lists.']
From Strings to Lists and Back
Given this:
print('string to list:', list('tin'))
print('list to string:', ''.join(['g', 'o', 'l', 'd']))
Output:
['t', 'i', 'n']
'gold'
1. Explain in simple terms what list('some string') does.
2. What does '-'.join(['x', 'y']) generate?
Tuples
Tuples are “immutable” lists
Like lists, can contain mixed data types
Defined with parenthesis and commas my_tuple = (object 1, object 2, ...)
Can be used to “bind together” two objects
first_name = "John"
last_name = "Smith"
full_name = (first_name, last_name)
print(full_name)
Output:
('John', 'Smith')
Accessing items in a sequence
Use an index to get a single object from a sequence.
The objects in a sequence are ordered. For example, the string ‘AB’ is not
the same as ‘BA’.
Because of this ordering, we can give each item a number that is it’s position
in the sequence. This number is called an index or sometimes a subscript.
Indices are numbered from 0.
Use the position’s index in square brackets to get the item at that position.
first_name = "John"
print(first_name[0])
full_name = ("John", "A", "Doe")
middle_initial = full_name[1]
print(middle_initial)
swc_instructors = ["Matt Garcia", "Kalin Kiesling", "Taylor Scott", "Patrick
Shirwise"]
an_instructor = swc_instructors[2]
print(an_instructor)
Output:
J
A.
Taylor Scott
Negative indices count backwards
The end of the sequence is indexed starting at -1
Negative indices can be used to get a sequence element
print(first_name[-1])
Output:
n
Use the index to change an element of a list
Lists can be changed in place
Use the index to replace an element of a list with a new value
small_primes = [2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11]
print(small_primes)
small_primes[3] = 7
print(small_primes)
Output:
[2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11]
[2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
Use del operator to remove an element from a list
del is a statement, not a function (so there are no parentheses)
print(small_primes)
del small_primes[4]
print(small_primes)
[2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11]
[2, 3, 5, 7, 11]
Strings and tuples are immutable.
Cannot change the characters in a string after it has been created.
Cannot change the elements of a tuple after it has been created.
o Immutable: can’t be changed after creation.
o In contrast, lists are mutable: they can be modified in place.
element = 'carbon'
element[0] = 'C'
Output:
TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment
Use a slice to get part of a selection.
A slice is a part of a sequence.
We take a slice by using [start:stop], where start is replaced with the index of
the first element we want and stop is replaced with the index of the element
just after the last element we want.
Mathematically, you might say that a slice selects [start:stop).
The difference between stop and start is the slice’s length.
Taking a slice does not change the contents of the original sequence. Instead,
the slice is a copy of part of the original sequence.
print(first_name[0:2])
Output:
Jo
Exercise
What does the following program print?
atom_name = 'carbon'
print('atom_name[1:3] is:', atom_name[1:3])
Output:
atom_name[1:3] is: ar
Challenge
If you assign a = 123, what happens if you try to get the second digit of a?
Solution
Numbers are not stored in the written representation, so they can’t be treated like
strings.
a = 123
print(a[1])
Output:
TypeError: 'int' object is not subscriptable
Last Character of a String
Challenge
We’ve seen one way to get the last character of a string. If Python starts counting
from zero, and len returns the number of characters in a string, what is another
index expression that will get the last character in the string name? Why might you
prefer one over the other?
Solution
name[len(name) - 1]
Key Points
Strings, tuples, and lists are ordered collections of objects.
Strings and tuples are immutable.
Lists are mutable.
Strings are sequences of characters.
Tuples and lists can be of arbitrary (mixed) data types.
Unordered data types return data in a random order.
Access a specific item by its index with sequence[index].
Access a range of items using slices: sequence[start:stop:skip].
