Lists & loops
Iterate, transform, and combine sequences with readable loop patterns.
How to Flatten a Deeply Nested List in Python Recursively
A recursive function that flattens arbitrarily deep nested lists into a single flat list using isinstance checks.
def flatten(nested_list):
if not nested_list:
return []
if isinstance(nested_list[0], list):
return flatten(nested_list[0]) + flatten(nested_list[1:])
return [nested_list[0]] + flatten(nested_list[1:])
if __name__ == "__main__":
data = [1, [2, [3, [4, [5]]]], [6, [7, [8, [9]]]], 10]
…How to Get the Union of Two Lists Without Duplicates in Python
Merge two lists and remove duplicate values using a set, then convert back to a list.
def union_without_duplicates(list1, list2):
return list(set(list1 + list2))
if __name__ == "__main__":
list_a = [1, 2, 3, 4]
list_b = [3, 4, 5, 6]
result = union_without_duplicates(list_a, list_b)
print(f"Union of {list_a} and {list_b}: {result}")How to Loop Through Lists in Python for Beginners
Transform, filter, sum, and find the maximum in a Python list using basic for loops and conditionals.
def transform_data(numbers):
"""Basic transformation examples using lists and loops."""
doubled = []
for n in numbers:
doubled.append(n * 2)
return doubled
def filter_even(numbers):
"""Keep only even numbers using a loop and condition."""
evens = []
for n in numbers:
if n …How to Normalize a List of Numbers in Python
This Python function normalizes a list of numeric values to the range [0, 1] using min-max scaling, returning a new list and leaving the original unchanged.
def normalize(data):
"""
Normalize a list of numeric values to the range [0, 1].
Returns a new list, leaving the original unchanged.
"""
if not data:
return []
min_val = min(data)
max_val = max(data)
# Handle the edge case where all values are identical
if min_val …How to Normalize a List of Numbers to the 0-1 Range in Python
Scale a list of numbers so the minimum becomes 0 and the maximum becomes 1 using min-max normalization.
def min_max_normalize(values):
"""Normalize a list of numbers to the [0, 1] range."""
if not values:
return []
min_val = min(values)
max_val = max(values)
if min_val == max_val:
return [0.0] * len(values)
return [(x - min_val) / (max_val - min_val) for x in values]
if __name__…How to Pad a List to Length n in Python with a Fill Value
Create a reusable function that pads a Python list to a specified length n by appending a fill value, or truncates it when the list is already longer than n.
def pad_list(lst, n, fill_value=None):
"""
Pad a list to length n using fill_value for missing elements.
If the list is longer than n, it is truncated to length n.
"""
if n <= len(lst):
return lst[:n]
return lst + [fill_value] * (n - len(lst))
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Examples…How to Parse a Comma String into a List of Integers in Python
Converts a comma-separated string into a list of integers, handling spaces and empty inputs.
def parse_csv_to_ints(text: str) -> list[int]:
"""Parse a comma-separated string into a list of integers."""
if not text.strip():
return []
return [int(part.strip()) for part in text.split(",") if part.strip()]
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample = "10, 20, 30, 40, 50"
result = parse_csv_to_…How to Partition a List Around a Pivot in Python
This code splits a list into three parts—elements less than, equal to, and greater than a pivot—then concatenates them to produce a partitioned list while preserving the original order within each group.
def partition_list(lst, pivot):
less = []
equal = []
greater = []
for item in lst:
if item < pivot:
less.append(item)
elif item == pivot:
equal.append(item)
else:
greater.append(item)
return less + equal + greater
if __name__ == "__main__…How to Process Text Lines with Lists and Loops in Python
This code processes a list of text lines by stripping whitespace, converting to uppercase, and reporting character counts per line and totals.
def process_text(lines):
"""Convert a list of text lines to uppercase and report line statistics."""
processed = []
total_chars = 0
for index, line in enumerate(lines, start=1):
cleaned = line.strip().upper()
processed.append(cleaned)
total_chars += len(cleaned)
pri…How to Process Text into Words in Python
Splits a string into words, strips punctuation, and returns a list of uppercase words using a loop.
def convert_text_processor(text):
words = text.split()
processed = []
for word in words:
clean = word.strip('.,!?;:')
if len(clean) > 0:
processed.append(clean.upper())
return processed
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample_text = "Hello, world! This is a Python e…How to Process Text with Lists and Loops in Python
A beginner-friendly text processor that splits a sentence into words, filters by length, counts vowels, and reports results using lists and loops.
text = "Python makes text processing easy and fun"
words = text.lower().split()
print("Words in the sentence:")
for index, word in enumerate(words, start=1):
print(f"{index}. {word}")
filtered_words = [word for word in words if len(word) > 3]
print(f"\nWords longer than 3 characters: {filtered_words}")
letter…How to Process Text with Lists and Loops in Python
Iterate over a list of text lines to count words, show uppercase versions, and report character counts per line.
# text_processor.py
def process_text(lines):
"""Count words, show uppercase, and count characters per line."""
total_words = 0
print("Line-by-line analysis:")
for i, line in enumerate(lines, start=1):
words = line.split()
total_words += len(words)
print(f" Line {i}: {len(words…How to Rotate a List in Python
Rotate a list to the right by k positions using Python's list slicing and modulo arithmetic.
def rotate_list_right(lst, k):
if not lst:
return lst
k = k % len(lst)
return lst[-k:] + lst[:-k] if k != 0 else lst
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
for k in [0, 1, 3, 8, 20]:
print(f"k={k}: {rotate_list_right(sample, k)}")How to Safely Convert a List of Strings to Integers in Python
Convert a list of strings to integers while skipping invalid entries and collecting the failed values for inspection.
def safe_to_int(values):
"""Safely convert a list of strings to integers, skipping invalid entries."""
result = []
errors = []
for value in values:
try:
result.append(int(value))
except (ValueError, TypeError):
errors.append(value)
return result, errors
if …How to Sort a List of Dictionaries by a Key in Python
Sort a list of dictionaries by a specified key field, optionally in descending order, using Python's built-in sorted() function.
def sort_dicts_by_key(data, key, reverse=False):
return sorted(data, key=lambda item: item.get(key), reverse=reverse)
if __name__ == "__main__":
people = [
{"name": "Alice", "age": 30},
{"name": "Bob", "age": 25},
{"name": "Charlie", "age": 35},
]
sorted_by_age = sort_dicts_b…How to Sort a List of Tuples by the Second Element in Python
Sorts a list of tuples by the second element using the sorted() function with a lambda key, preserving the original list.
def sort_tuples_by_second(tuples_list):
"""Sort a list of tuples by the second element."""
return sorted(tuples_list, key=lambda x: x[1])
if __name__ == "__main__":
data = [(1, 5), (3, 2), (2, 8), (4, 1)]
sorted_data = sort_tuples_by_second(data)
print("Original list:", data)
print("Sorted by…How to Split a List at the First Occurrence of a Value in Python
This function splits a list into two parts at the first occurrence of a given value, returning the left and right portions.
def split_at_first(lst, value):
try:
idx = lst.index(value)
return lst[:idx], lst[idx:]
except ValueError:
return lst, []
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample = [1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 5]
value = 3
left, right = split_at_first(sample, value)
print("Left:", left)
print("Right:"…How to Split a List into Chunks in Python
Split a list into fixed-size sublists using a simple list comprehension with slicing.
def chunk_list(lst, size):
"""Split a list into sublists of given size."""
return [lst[i:i + size] for i in range(0, len(lst), size)]
if __name__ == "__main__":
sample = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
print(chunk_list(sample, 3))How to Standardize a List with Z-Score Normalization in Python
This code computes the z-score for each number in a list, standardizing the data to have zero mean and unit variance using the statistics module.
import statistics
def z_score_normalize(values):
"""Standardize a list of numbers using z-score normalization."""
if not values or len(values) < 2:
raise ValueError("Need at least 2 values for meaningful z-score normalization")
mean = statistics.mean(values)
std_dev = statistics.stdev(val…How to Summarize a List of Numbers in Python
Loop over a list of numbers to compute total, count, average, min, and max, then return them in a dictionary.
def summarize_numbers(numbers):
"""Return a dict with basic stats for a list of numbers."""
total = 0
count = 0
smallest = numbers[0]
largest = numbers[0]
for num in numbers:
total += num
count += 1
if num < smallest:
smallest = num
if num > largest:…How to Swap Two Indices in a Python List
Swap two elements at given indices in a Python list using simultaneous assignment, then return the modified list.
def swap_indices(lst, i, j):
lst[i], lst[j] = lst[j], lst[i]
return lst
if __name__ == "__main__":
my_list = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]
print("Original list:", my_list)
swapped = swap_indices(my_list, 1, 3)
print("After swapping indices 1 and 3:", swapped)How to Validate List Data in Python
A beginner-friendly validation helper that checks if data is a list, enforces minimum length, and optionally verifies item types with clear error messages.
def validate_data(data, expected_types=None, min_length=1):
"""Validate that data is a non-empty list and optionally check item types."""
if not isinstance(data, list):
return False, f"Expected a list, got {type(data).__name__}"
if len(data) < min_length:
return False, f"List must have…How to Validate Text Against Forbidden Words in Python
Checks whether a given text contains any forbidden words and returns a tuple with validity and offending words.
def validate_text(text, forbidden_words):
"""
Checks that text does not contain any forbidden words.
Returns (is_valid, offending_words) tuple.
"""
words = text.lower().split()
found = [word for word in words if word in forbidden_words]
return len(found) == 0, found
if __name__ == "__main…How to Zip Two Lists into Pairs in Python
Combine two lists element-wise into a list of tuples using Python's built-in zip() function.
def zip_lists_into_pairs(list1, list2):
pairs = list(zip(list1, list2))
return pairs
if __name__ == "__main__":
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
quantities = [3, 5, 2]
result = zip_lists_into_pairs(fruits, quantities)
print(result)Browse by section
Each section groups closely related Python snippets.
Lists & loops — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects lists & loops snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.