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How to Reverse a List in Python

python reverse list

In Python, a list is a collection of items that are ordered and changeable. This tutorial will show you different ways to reverse a list in Python.

What is a List in Python?

A list is a built-in data type in Python that is used to store a collection of items. Lists are mutable, which means that we can add, remove, or modify items in a list. Lists are also ordered, which means that the items in a list have a specific order.

To create a list in Python, we use square brackets [] and separate the items with commas ,. Here is an example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(fruits)

Output:

['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']

How to Reverse a List in Python

Using the reverse() method

The reverse() method reverses the order of the elements in a list. Here is an example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
fruits.reverse()
print(fruits)

Output:

['cherry', 'banana', 'apple']

Reverse a List Using Slicing

Slicing is a way to extract a portion of a list. By using slicing, we can extract the entire list in reverse order. Here is an example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
reversed_fruits = fruits[::-1]
print(reversed_fruits)

Output:

['cherry', 'banana', 'apple']

Reverse a List Using a For Loop

The for loop iterates over the elements in the list in reverse order and adds them to a new list. Here is an example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
reversed_fruits = []
for i in reversed(range(len(fruits))):
    reversed_fruits.append(fruits[i])
print(reversed_fruits)

Output:

['cherry', 'banana', 'apple']

Reverse a List Using the reversed() Function

The built-in reversed() function returns a reverse iterator, which we can convert to a list. Here is an example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
reversed_fruits = list(reversed(fruits))
print(reversed_fruits)

Output:

['cherry', 'banana', 'apple']

Conclusion

Reversing a list in Python is a simple task that can be accomplished using the reverse() method, slicing, a for loop, or the reversed() function. Understanding how to reverse a list is an important skill for any Python programmer, and can be useful in a variety of applications.

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