Python Slicing: Understanding List Manipulation
Slicing in Python Lists
Slicing in Python is a powerful feature that allows you to extract specific elements from a list based on their index positions. The syntax for slicing is list[start:stop:step], where start is the index to begin the slice, stop is the index to end the slice (not included in the slice), and step is the interval between indices.
Explanation of the given slicing operation
To understand the output of my_list[:1:-1], let's break down the slicing operation:
- my_list = ['jumbly', 'wumbly', 'number', 5]
- Start: Not provided, defaults to the end of the list
- Stop: 1, slicing stops before index 1
- Step: -1, iterating backwards through the list
Elements included in the sliced output
Based on the operation, the elements included in the slice are:
- Index -1 (last element): 5
- Index -2 (second to last element): 'number'
The resulting output is [5, 'number']. Therefore, the correct answer to the slicing question is [5, 'number'].