📘 Episode 2: Mastering Python Lists – DarchumsTech Series

Welcome back to the Data Structures in Python series! In this episode, we’ll explore one of the most commonly used structures in Python: the List.

---

📦 What is a Python List?

A List in Python is a dynamic, ordered collection that can hold items of any type. You can add, remove, or change values easily. Lists are created using square brackets [].

---

🛠 Creating and Accessing Lists

• Use [] to create a list: fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
• Access items using an index (starting from 0)
• Negative indexing starts from the end

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(fruits[0])      # apple
print(fruits[-1])     # cherry

---

🔁 List Slicing

You can extract parts of a list using slicing: list[start:end]. The end index is exclusive.

print(fruits[0:2])     # ['apple', 'banana']
print(fruits[1:])      # ['banana', 'cherry']

---

🧰 Common List Methods

Python lists come with several powerful built-in methods:

• append() – adds item to end
• insert() – inserts at a specific index
• remove() – removes first match
• pop() – removes item at index
• sort() – sorts the list

numbers = [4, 2, 7]
numbers.append(5)
numbers.sort()
print(numbers)  # [2, 4, 5, 7]

---

🧠 List vs. Array (What's the Difference?)

• Python lists can hold multiple data types.
• Arrays (using the array module) are more efficient for large numeric data.
• Lists are more flexible, arrays are faster for math-heavy tasks.

---

🎮 Try It Yourself

---

📌 Summary

• Lists are ordered, mutable, and versatile.
• Use slicing, loops, and methods to manipulate data.
• Perfect for storing dynamic collections of items.

---

🚀 Coming Up Next...

In Episode 3, we'll explore Tuples: Python's immutable sequences!

---