Programming in Python 3: A Complete Introduction to the Python Language, Second Edition

3. Collection Data Types

• Sequence Types

• Set Types

• Mapping Types

• Iterating and Copying Collections

In the preceding chapter we learned about Python’s most important fundamental data types. In this chapter we will extend our programming options by learning how to gather data items together using Python’s collection data types. We will cover tuples and lists, and also introduce new collection data types, including sets and dictionaries, and cover all of them in depth.*

*The definitions of what constitutes a sequence type, a set type, or a mapping type given in this chapter are practical but informal. More formal definitions are given in Chapter 8.

In addition to collections, we will also see how to create data items that are aggregates ...