List Iteration
List iteration in Python represents the process of going through each element in a list in order. Python provides several ways to iterate over lists.
For Loop
The simplest method to iterate over a list is using a for
loop. The for
loop goes through each element one by one.
Here, fruit
is a temporary variable which points to the current element in the list for each iteration of the loop.
Enumerate Function
If you need to keep track of the index of the current item, you can use the enumerate
function.
Here, index
is the current index and fruit
is the element at that index.
List Comprehension
Another Pythonic way to iterate over a list is using list comprehension. It’s a concise way to create new lists where each element is the result of some operations applied to each member of another list.
In this example, we create a new list fruit_lengths
where each element is the length of the corresponding fruit in the fruits
list.
Tip
Although list comprehension is a powerful tool, it can become complex and unreadable if overused. Stick to simple use-cases, such as applying a single function to all elements of a list.
While Loop
Although not as common as for
loop for list iteration, a while
loop can also be used. You need to manually update the loop variable in this case.
Here we initiate a counter i
and increment it during each iteration until it is less than the length of the list.
Remember, efficient list iteration is a crucial skill in Python, and can greatly enhance the speed and readability of your code.