How to Append an Element to a List in Python

Append an Element to a List in Python

Appending an element to a list in Python is adding new items to an existing list. The append() method is used to add an item to the end of the list.

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Syntax of the append() Method

The append() method is called on a list and takes a single argument, which is the element you want to add.

list_name.append(element)

Here, list_name refers to the list to which we are appending an element, and element is the value to be added.

Examples

1. Append a Single Element to a List

Let’s start with a basic example of appending an element to a list.

# Creating a list of numbers
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4]

# Appending an element
numbers.append(5)

# Printing the updated list
print("Updated List:", numbers)

Output:

Updated List: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Here, the number 5 is added to the end of the list using append().

2. Append a String to a List

The append() method can also be used to add a string to a list.

# Creating a list of fruits
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# Appending a new fruit
fruits.append("orange")

# Printing the updated list
print("Updated Fruits List:", fruits)

Output:

Updated Fruits List: ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'orange']

3. Append a List to Another List

If we append a list to another list, the entire list is added as a single element (creating a nested list).

# Creating a list of numbers
numbers = [1, 2, 3]

# Creating another list
more_numbers = [4, 5, 6]

# Appending the second list
numbers.append(more_numbers)

# Printing the updated list
print("Updated List:", numbers)

Output:

Updated List: [1, 2, 3, [4, 5, 6]]

Notice that the second list more_numbers is added as a single element, resulting in a nested list.

4. Append an Element Inside a Loop

We can also append elements to a list inside a loop.

# Creating an empty list
squares = []

# Appending squares of numbers from 1 to 5
for i in range(1, 6):
    squares.append(i ** 2)

# Printing the updated list
print("List of squares:", squares)

Output:

List of squares: [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]

Here, we append the square of each number from 1 to 5 to the squares list inside a loop.

Points to Remember

1. The append() method is used to add a single element to the end of a list.
2. If a list is appended to another list, it is added as a single element, creating a nested list.
3. append() is useful when dynamically building a list, such as in loops.