The Quick Python Book, Third Edition

Chapter 5. Lists, tuples, and sets

This chapter covers

• Manipulating lists and list indices
• Modifying lists
• Sorting
• Using common list operations
• Handling nested lists and deep copies
• Using tuples
• Creating and using sets

In this chapter, I discuss the two major Python sequence types: lists and tuples. At first, lists may remind you of arrays in many other languages, but don’t be fooled: lists are a good deal more flexible and powerful than plain arrays.

Tuples are like lists that can’t be modified; you can think of them as a restricted type of list or as a basic record type. I discuss the need for such a restricted data type later in the chapter. This chapter also discusses a newer Python collection type: sets. Sets are useful when an object’s ...