Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-10-20 11:21:25 - Graham Ellis
In Python, you can extend a list and you can append to it as well.
What's the difference? If you append a list to another list, you add the new list as a single extra list to the original, thus makingthe original list just one longer with an item that is itself a list. But if you extend a list with another list, you add each element of the new list onto the original. Here's an example to show you what I mean:
>>> first = [10,20,30]
>>> second = [40,50,60]
>>> first.append([70,80,90])
>>> second.extend([100,110,120])
>>> first
[10, 20, 30, [70, 80, 90]]
>>> second
[40, 50, 60, 100, 110, 120]
>>>
Illustration - delegates come on our Python courses from near and far. For delegates who are new to the UK, we try to provide "a taste of England" too - taking lunch at a variety of interesting places. Pictured - course delegates at Lacock, about 4 miles from our training centre
In Python, you can extend a list and you can append to it as well.