python list index - an easy question

[Paul Götze]

Hi John,

there is a nice short article by E. W. Dijkstra about why it makes sense
to start numbering at zero (and exclude the upper given bound) while
slicing a list. Might give a bit of additional understanding.

http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ewd08xx/EWD831.PDF

- paul


http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ewd08xx/EWD831.PDF


Am 17.12.2016 um 20:10 schrieb John:
> Hi, 
>
>    I am new to Python, and I believe it's an easy question. I know R and Matlab.
>
> ************
>>>> x=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
>>>> x[0]
> 1
>>>> x[1:5]
> [2, 3, 4, 5]
> *************
>
>     My question is: what does x[1:5] mean? By Python's convention, the first element of a list is indexed as "0". Doesn't x[1:5] mean a sub-list of x, indexed 1,2,3,4,5? If I am right, it should print [2,3,4,5,6]. Why does it print only [2,3,4,5]?
>
>    Thanks!!
>
> John