The syntax is:
a[start:stop] # items start through stop-1
a[start:] # items start through the rest of the array
a[:stop] # items from the beginning through stop-1
a[:] # a copy of the whole array
There is also the step value, which can be used with any of the above:
a[start:stop:step] # start through not past stop, by step
The key point to remember is that the :stop value represents the first value that is not in the selected slice. So, the difference between stop and start is the number of elements selected (if step is 1, the default).
The other feature is that start or stop may be a negative number, which means it counts from the end of the array instead of the beginning. So:
a[-1] # last item in the array
a[-2:] # last two items in the array
a[:-2] # everything except the last two items
Similarly, step may be a negative number:
a[::-1] # all items in the array, reversed
a[1::-1] # the first two items, reversed
a[:-3:-1] # the last two items, reversed
a[-3::-1] # everything except the last two items, reversed
Python is kind to the programmer if there are fewer items than you ask for. For example, if you ask for a[:-2] and a only contains one element, you get an empty list instead of an error. Sometimes you would prefer the error, so you have to be aware that this may happen.
Relationship with the slice object
A slice object can represent a slicing operation, i.e.:
a[start:stop:step]
is equivalent to:
a[slice(start, stop, step)]
Slice objects also behave slightly differently depending on the number of arguments, similar to range(), i.e. both slice(stop) and slice(start, stop[, step]) are supported.
To skip specifying a given argument, one might use None, so that e.g. a[start:] is equivalent to a[slice(start, None)] or a[::-1] is equivalent to a[slice(None, None, -1)].
While the :-based notation is very helpful for simple slicing, the explicit use of slice() objects simplifies the programmatic generation of slicing.
The syntax is:
a[start:stop] # items start through stop-1
a[start:] # items start through the rest of the array
a[:stop] # items from the beginning through stop-1
a[:] # a copy of the whole array
There is also the step value, which can be used with any of the above:
a[start:stop:step] # start through not past stop, by step
The key point to remember is that the :stop value represents the first value that is not in the selected slice. So, the difference between stop and start is the number of elements selected (if step is 1, the default).
The other feature is that start or stop may be a negative number, which means it counts from the end of the array instead of the beginning. So:
a[-1] # last item in the array
a[-2:] # last two items in the array
a[:-2] # everything except the last two items
Similarly, step may be a negative number:
a[::-1] # all items in the array, reversed
a[1::-1] # the first two items, reversed
a[:-3:-1] # the last two items, reversed
a[-3::-1] # everything except the last two items, reversed
Python is kind to the programmer if there are fewer items than you ask for. For example, if you ask for a[:-2] and a only contains one element, you get an empty list instead of an error. Sometimes you would prefer the error, so you have to be aware that this may happen.
Relationship with the slice object
A slice object can represent a slicing operation, i.e.:
a[start:stop:step]
is equivalent to:
a[slice(start, stop, step)]
Slice objects also behave slightly differently depending on the number of arguments, similar to range(), i.e. both slice(stop) and slice(start, stop[, step]) are supported.
To skip specifying a given argument, one might use None, so that e.g. a[start:] is equivalent to a[slice(start, None)] or a[::-1] is equivalent to a[slice(None, None, -1)].
While the :-based notation is very helpful for simple slicing, the explicit use of slice() objects simplifies the programmatic generation of slicing.
The Python tutorial talks about it (scroll down a bit until you get to the part about slicing).
The ASCII art diagram is helpful too for remembering how slices work:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| P | y | t | h | o | n |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+
0 1 2 3 4 5
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1
One way to remember how slices work is to think of the indices as pointing between characters, with the left edge of the first character numbered 0. Then the right edge of the last character of a string of n characters has index n.
Array slicing notation to get N elements from index I - Ideas - Discussions on Python.org
Does array slicing [::] use extra memory?
How do you slice and splice arrays and ranges?
A Comprehensive Guide to Slicing in Python
Videos
Trying to wrap my head around this merge sort implementation:
def mergeSort(myList):
if len(myList) > 1:
mid = len(myList) // 2
left = myList[:mid]
right = myList[mid:]
# Recursive call on each half
mergeSort(left)
mergeSort(right)
# Two iterators for traversing the two halves
i = 0
j = 0
# Iterator for the main list
k = 0
while i < len(left) and j < len(right):
if left[i] <= right[j]:
# The value from the left half has been used
myList[k] = left[i]
# Move the iterator forward
i += 1
else:
myList[k] = right[j]
j += 1
# Move to the next slot
k += 1
# For all the remaining values
while i < len(left):
myList[k] = left[i]
i += 1
k += 1
while j < len(right):
myList[k]=right[j]
j += 1
k += 1Here we get the mid point, create a left array with myList[:mid] and right array with myList[mid:], then we loop through each half and change myList based on which current element is smaller.
What I don't understand is, I read that array slicing in python does not create a new array, so when we change myList, how come it doesn't the lists left and right? If the sliced arrays are independent from the original, does that mean python uses a list to store memory locations for each element? How much memory does that use? Wouldn't that use almost as much as a new array for an array of ints anyway?
Python and Go have first class support for slicing and splicing. Java and C++ offer standard library support.
I'm new to VBA! Say I have a 5x10 range as input to a UDF, and I want the subrange containing the 2nd and 4th rows only, am I meant to just Redim a new range and copy everything across with a for-loop?
In python (where arrays start from zero) it might look something like
newrange = list(zip(range[1], range[3])