What is the difference between lists and arrays

One way to count the elements in a list is to make an anonymous array, then immediately dereference it in scalar context, like so:. There is no array in this code, but the list assignment operator returns the number of things being assigned.

I assign them to an empty list of variables. You need not convert an array to a list , because an array in list context is already a list. The comma operator would return the last element of a list, but I can't use it to get the last element of an array. If I say , array in scalar context, then array is in scalar context and I get the count.

You need not make an array to index a list. I had trouble with list slices because they have different syntax. A list slice needs parentheses! In C or Python or Ruby, func [1] would do the array index on the function's return value, but in Perl, func [1] is a syntax error. You must say func [1]. For example, I want to print the 3rd highest number in array.

Because I'm lazy, I sort the array and take the 3rd last element:. You can use a list slice on an array, as in array [1]. This works because an array is a list. The biggest difference is in the idea of direct access Vs sequential access. Arrays allow both; direct and sequential access, while lists allow only sequential access. And this is because the way that these data structures are stored in memory. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Collectives on Stack Overflow. Learn more. What is the difference between lists and arrays? Ask Question. Asked 8 years, 10 months ago.

Active 2 years, 8 months ago. Viewed 14k times. What is the difference? Improve this question. Your reference is misleading. It says an array is just a set of scalars , whereas there is far more to it than that — Borodin.

And also less than that, as! I think that page that you refer to is rather confusing. Perl has three types of variables: scalars, arrays and hashes.

Lists are just what they sound like: A list of scalars. Like you have a shopping LIST, which is a list of items you need to buy. No need to complicate things. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Borodin Borodin k 9 9 gold badges 66 66 silver badges bronze badges.

Oh god, it's twice as bug! For example, you can safely slice and join your list, like this: print join ':', 4,2,3,1 [1,2]; So arrays are variables holding lists, by definition. Your comment on this answer: Your name to display optional : Email me at this address if a comment is added after mine: Email me if a comment is added after mine Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.

Python does not have native array data structure,but it has the list which is mutable which means we can modify the content present within the list. We can store data of heterogeneous datatypes.

List is much more general and can be used as a multidimensional array quite easily. Lists Python lists are very flexible and can hold arbitrary data. Arrays Python arrays are just a thin wrapper on C arrays. Arrays need to first be imported, or declared, from other libraries i. Related Questions In Python. What is the difference between range and xrange functions in Python 2. What is the difference between print and return in python? What is the difference between isdigit, isnumeric and isdecimal in python?

Lowercase in Python You can simply the built-in function in I want to understand the difference between delete, remove and pop, in Python. Welcome back to the World's most active Tech Community! Password must have. Please enter a valid emailid. Forgot Password? It is difficult to modify an array since addition, deletion and update operation is performed on a single element at a time. As we studied above, array and list have their own importance in python language. But the question always arises, when to use array or list?

So, when we are targeting to store the small sequence of elements and do not want to perform any mathematical operations, then the list is the preferred choice to make because list data structure will allow you to store an ordered and mutable easily modification can be made and indexed sequence storage of items without importing any explicit module.

As array data structure offers more efficient data storage of elements therefore it is considered to use an array when we need to deal with a long sequence of data. Also, if we are looking forward to performing the numerical operations on a combination of elements, it is recommended to use an array as an array data structure that relies heavily on data analytics and data science.

Also, a python list is faster than a python array as python array are based on a python list itself because when we create the python list an array of pointers storing the references of elements in the list is created somewhere in the memory location.

So, from the above studies, we get to know that array and list both have their own advantages and disadvantages. You also understood the difference between array and list in python, along with a table of differences for array vs list.

We can use them according to the requirement of the data to be stored and the operations that are to be performed on the elements stored. Already have an Account? Sign In Name E-mail Password. Sign Up Lost your password? Jan 06, 5 Minutes Read. What is an Array? Get Help Now. About The Author.