Trying to duplicate a list and modify one version of it in Python 2 [duplicate]
I want to duplicate a list and modify the duplicate, but when I try this, I end up modifying the original as well.
A highly simplified version of my problem:
list = [2,3,6,8,9,6,7,4,56,8,9,6,7,8]
new_list = list
new_list[2] = 'n'
print list
print new_list
I only want to change item 2 of the new list, but when I try this, both the new list and the old list change to:
[2,3,'n',8,9,6,7,4,56,8,9,6,7,8]
Is th开发者_JS百科ere something quite fundamental I'm missing here?
I can make it do what I want if I add each item of the list to the next list one by one:
list = [2,3,6,8,9,6,7,4,56,8,9,6,7,8]
new_list = []
for item in list:
new_list.append(item)
new_list[2] = 'n'
print list
print new_list
If I do that, only the new_list
changes, but is there a more straight-forward way?
To make a new copy of your list, try:
newList = list(oldList)
Or more cryptic concise via slicing:
newlist = oldList[:]
Just assigning oldList
to newList
will result in two names pointing to the same object, like so:
Generic object copying functions are provided by the copy module. (Image taken from: http://henry.precheur.org/python/copy_list).
Yes, you are missing something fundamental. Python will never make a copy of a object, unless you explicitly ask for it, as in myList[:]
.
Whenever you use =
, as in mylist = [2,3,4]
, you assign the name on the left to the value on the right. In this case you have a value, [2,3,4]
(a literal) and you give a new name to this particular list, "mylist"
.
The same happens when you write new_list = mylist
: On the right hand side is a value, but this time it's given by its name. Python looks this name up and finds the existing list. Then this list gets a new name, "newlist"
, but you still have only one list (with two names for it).
Use new_list = a_list[:]
to make a shallow copy of a_list
:
a_list = [2,3,6,8,9,6,7,4,56,8,9,6,7,8]
new_list = a_list[:]
new_list[2] = 'n'
print a_list
print new_list
yields
[2, 3, [6, 8], 9, 6, 7, 4, 56, 8, 9, 6, 7, 8]
[2, 3, [6, 'n'], 9, 6, 7, 4, 56, 8, 9, 6, 7, 8]
Think of variable names as references which point at objects.
When you say new_list = a_list
you are telling Python to make new_list
point to the same object that a_list
points at. This is why modifying new_list
also modified a_list
.
PS. Resist the temptation to name a list list
. This overrides the builtin definition for the list
function.
PPS. new_list = a_list[:]
creates a shallow copy. If
a_list = [1, 2,[3,6]]
new_list = a_list[:]
then
new_list[2][1] = 'n'
would modify the sublist in both a_list
and new_list
. If you want do a deep copy then use
import copy
new_list = copy.deepcopy(a_list)
instead.
When you're doing
new_list = list
your new_list
isn't actually a new list, it's a new reference to the old list.
You can create a copy with slice notation:
>>> l = [1, 2]
>>> l2 = l[:]
>>> l2[0]=42
>>> l
[1, 2]
>>> l2
[42, 2]
And also, don't use list
as a variable name, it conflicts with builtin list
type.
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