Python list methods are built-in functions that allow you to modify, search, and manipulate lists directly. These methods operate on the list object itself and typically modify it in place.

Core List Methods

  • append(item): Adds a single item to the end of the list.

  • extend(iterable): Adds all elements from another list or iterable to the end of the current list.

  • insert(index, item): Inserts an item at a specified position in the list.

  • remove(item): Removes the first occurrence of a specified item from the list (raises ValueError if not found).

  • pop(index): Removes and returns the item at the given index (or the last item if no index is specified).

  • clear(): Removes all items from the list.

  • index(item): Returns the index of the first occurrence of the specified item (raises ValueError if not found).

  • count(item): Returns the number of times an item appears in the list.

  • sort(key=None, reverse=False): Sorts the list in ascending order by default; use reverse=True for descending order.

  • reverse(): Reverses the order of elements in the list in place.

  • copy(): Returns a shallow copy of the list (useful to avoid unintended mutations).

Key Notes

  • Most list methods modify the original list and do not return a new list.

  • For non-destructive operations, use the built-in sorted() function (returns a new sorted list) or reversed() (returns an iterator).

  • Use list.copy() to create a shallow copy when you need to preserve the original list.

  • The del keyword can also be used to remove items or slices, but it is not a method.

For detailed examples and practice, refer to resources like W3Schools or Learn By Example.

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Exercism
exercism.org › tracks › python › concepts › list-methods
List Methods in Python on Exercism
Lists support both common and mutable sequence operations such as min(<list>)/max(<list>), <list>.index(), <list>.append() and <list>.reverse(). Items can be iterated over using the for item in <list> construct, and for index, item in enumerate(<list>) when both the element and element index are needed. Python provides many useful methods for working with lists.
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Board Infinity
boardinfinity.com › blog › list-method-python
List methods in Python | Board Infinity
June 22, 2023 - So to do this we can use the count() method to get the number of times an element is present in the list. ... In Python, if we want to add an element to a certain index then we can use the insert(0 methods.
Discussions

Creating a list of methods to be executed in Python - Stack Overflow
How can I create a list of methods in python to be applied to an object? Given some arbitrary class: class someClass: def __init__(self, s): self.size = s def shrink(self): ... More on stackoverflow.com
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How do I mock boto3 method calls when they're called from within a custom class' custom method?
Hello! I'm a bot! It looks to me like your post might be better suited for r/learnpython , a sub geared towards questions and learning more about python. That said, I am a bot and it is hard to tell. Please follow the subs rules and guidelines when you do post there, it'll help you get better answers faster. Show r/learnpython the code you have tried and describe where you are stuck. You can also ask this question in the Python discord , a large, friendly community focused around the Python programming language, open to those who wish to learn the language or improve their skills, as well as those looking to help others. README | FAQ | this bot is written and managed by u/IAmKindOfCreative This bot is currently under development and experiencing changes to improve its usefulness More on reddit.com
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October 19, 2019
List of all Python dunder methods?

Sounds like a classic case of X-Y-problem. What are you trying to achieve?

I don't think trying to maintain a comprehensive list of dunder methods is a good idea. Consider that this list is bound to change with upcoming versions of Python and has already undergone considerable changes in the past. You may end up maintaining varying lists of magic methods for different versions of Python.

I think the goto approach here would be to just try to call the respective method from within a generic __getattribute__ and react appropriately to TypeError.

It may also be possible to analyse the proxied object's class dict (someobject.__class__.__dict__) to find out which dunder methods were defined on that class. Of course you may end up having to walk up the inheritance chain as well, so this is bound to get quite complicated.

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March 7, 2018
What is Python's list.append() method WORST Time Complexity? It can't be O(1), right?
I've read on Stackoverflow that in Python Array doubles in size when run of space It's actually not double, but it does increase proportional to the list size (IIRC it's about 12%, though there's some variance at smaller sizes). This does result in the same asymptotics though, so I'll assume doubling in the following description for simplicity. So basically it has to copy all addresses log(n) times. Not quite. Suppose we're appending n items to an empty vector. We will indeed do log(n) resizes, so you might think "Well, resizes are O(n), so log(n) resizes is n log(n) operations, which if we amortize over the n appends we did means n log(n)/n, or log(n) per append". However, there's a flaw in this analysis: we do not copy "all addresses" each of those times. Ie. the copies are not O(n). Sure, the last copy we do will involve copying n items, but the one before it only copied n/2, and so on. So we actually do 1 + 2 + 4 + ... + n copies, which sums to 2n-1. Divide that by n and you get ~2 operations per append - a constant. I assume since it copies addresses, not information We are indeed only copying the pointer, but this doesn't really matter for the complexity analysis. Even if it was copying a large structure, that'd only increase the time by a constant factor. Does that mean that O(1) is the average time complexity? It's the amortized worst case complexity (ie. what happens over a large number of operations). While any one operation can indeed end up doing O(n) operations, there's an important distinction that over a large number of operations, you are guaranteed to only be O(1), which is a distinction just talking about average case wouldn't capture. More on reddit.com
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October 26, 2022
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CodeFatherTech
codefather.tech › home › blog › python list methods: a practical guide to work with lists
Python List Methods: A Practical Guide to Work with Lists
December 8, 2024 - Some examples of methods supported by Python lists are append (adds an item to the end of a list), insert (adds an item at a specific position in a list), remove (removes an item from a list), sort (sorts a list), index (returns the index of the first element with a given value in a list).
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_ref_list.asp
Python List/Array Methods
Remove List Duplicates Reverse a String Add Two Numbers · Python Examples Python Compiler Python Exercises Python Quiz Python Challenges Python Server Python Syllabus Python Study Plan Python Interview Q&A Python Bootcamp Python Certificate Python Training ... Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on lists/arrays.
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Learn By Example
learnbyexample.org › python-list-methods
Python List Methods - Learn By Example
June 12, 2019 - Python List Methods Method Description append() Adds an item to the end of the list insert() Inserts an item at a given position extend() Extends the list by appending all the items from the […]
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › list-methods-python
Python List methods - GeeksforGeeks
Python list methods are built-in functions that allow us to perform various operations on lists, such as adding, removing, or modifying elements.
Published   July 23, 2025
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Programiz
programiz.com › python-programming › list
Python List (With Examples)
December 30, 2025 - The list extend() method method all the items of the specified iterable, such as list, tuple, dictionary or string , to the end of a list.
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Python documentation
docs.python.org › 3 › tutorial › datastructures.html
5. Data Structures — Python 3.14.3 documentation
The list methods make it very easy to use a list as a stack, where the last element added is the first element retrieved (“last-in, first-out”). To add an item to the top of the stack, use append(). To retrieve an item from the top of the ...
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MindMajix
mindmajix.com › blog › python › python list methods
Python List Methods | Documentation | MindMajix - 2025
Python has some list methods which are built-in that you can use to perform frequently occurring tasks (related to list) with ease. For example, if you would like to add element to a list, you can make use of append() method.
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Du
cs.du.edu › ~intropython › intro-to-programming › list_methods.html
List methods - Introduction to Programming
In python, lists come with many built-in methods that allow us to search, count, and modify lists. A list method is a special kind of function that is executed on a specific list. You've already seen one example of a list method, namely append().
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Python documentation
docs.python.org › 3 › library › stdtypes.html
Built-in Types — Python 3.14.3 documentation
1 week ago - Python’s generators provide a convenient way to implement the iterator protocol. If a container object’s __iter__() method is implemented as a generator, it will automatically return an iterator object (technically, a generator object) supplying the __iter__() and __next__() methods. More information about generators can be found in the documentation for the yield expression. There are three basic sequence types: lists...
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_lists_methods.asp
Python - List Methods
Remove List Duplicates Reverse a String Add Two Numbers · Python Examples Python Compiler Python Exercises Python Quiz Python Challenges Python Server Python Syllabus Python Study Plan Python Interview Q&A Python Bootcamp Python Certificate Python Training ... Python has a set of built-in methods that you can use on lists.
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Google
developers.google.com › google for education › python › python lists
Python Lists | Python Education | Google for Developers
January 23, 2026 - The range() function is often used with a for-loop to create a traditional numeric loop. Various list methods like append(), insert(), extend(), index(), remove(), sort(), reverse(), and pop() are available to modify and interact with lists.
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Cisco
ipcisco.com › home › python list methods
Python List Methods | ⋆ IpCisco
March 15, 2021 - Tın the second example, we will remove the third member of the listt with index 2. ... Python remove method is one of the Python List Methods used to remove a specified member from the list.
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Tutorialspoint
tutorialspoint.com › home › python › python list methods
Python List Methods
February 21, 2009 - Explore the various list methods in Python, including append, extend, insert, remove, pop, and more. Enhance your coding skills with practical examples.
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Programiz
programiz.com › python-programming › methods › list
Python List Methods | Programiz
Python has a lot of list methods that allow us to work with lists. In this reference page, you will find all the list methods to work with Python List.
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Analytics Vidhya
analyticsvidhya.com › home › a beginner’s guide to python list methods
Python List Methods Every Developer Should Know
October 15, 2024 - Lists are like dynamically sized arrays found in other programming languages like C++ or Java. In Python, a Function may be passed input parameters and may or may not return a result. Method, on the other hand, maybe passed off as an object instance and may or may not result in the expected output.
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DataCamp
datacamp.com › tutorial › python-list-function
Python List Functions & Methods Tutorial and Examples | DataCamp
December 19, 2022 - In Python, you can use a list function which creates a collection that can be manipulated for your analysis. This collection of data is called a list object. While all methods are functions in Python, not all functions are methods. There is a key difference between functions and methods in Python.
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Python documentation
docs.python.org › 3 › library › functions.html
Built-in Functions — Python 3.14.3 documentation
1 week ago - Without arguments, return the list of names in the current local scope. With an argument, attempt to return a list of valid attributes for that object. If the object has a method named __dir__(), this method will be called and must return the ...