Python Sequence and Collections – Operations, Functions, Methods

This blog is dedicated to a revision of the Python sequence and collections.

In this Python Sequence Tutorial, we will discuss 6 types of Sequence: String, list, tuples, Byte sequences, byte array, and range object.

Moreover, we will discuss Python sequence operations, functions, and methods. At last, we will cover python collection: sets and dictionaries.

So, let’s start Python Sequence and Collections

Python Sequence and Collections – Operations, Functions, Methods

What is Python Sequence?

So, what is a Python sequence, and how does it differ from a Python collection?

A sequence is a group of items with a deterministic ordering. The order in which we put them in is the order in which we get an item out from them.

Python offers six types of sequences. Let’s discuss them.

1. Python Strings

A string is a group of characters. Since Python has no provision for arrays, we simply use strings. This is how we declare a string:

Python Sequence or Collection

We can use a pair of single or double quotes. And like we’ve always said, Python is dynamically-typed. Every string object is of the type ‘str’.

>>> type(name)

Output

To declare an empty string, we may use the function str():

>>> name=str()
>>> name

Output

>>> name=str('Ayushi')
>>> name

Output

>>> name[3]

Output

2. Python Lists

Since Python does not have arrays, it has lists. A list is an ordered group of items. To declare it, we use square brackets.

>>> groceries=['milk','bread','eggs']
>>> groceries[1]

Output

>>> groceries[:2]

Output

A Python list can hold all kinds of items; this is what makes it heterogenous.

>>> mylist=[1,'2',3.0,False]

Also, a list is mutable. This means we can change a value.

>>> groceries[0]='cheese'
>>> groceries

Output

A list may also contain functions.

>>> groceries[0]='cheese'
>>> groceries

Output

>>> newlist=[sayhi,sayhi]
>>> newlist[0]

Output

>>> newlist[0]()

Output

3. Python Tuples

A tuple, in effect, is an immutable group of items. When we say immutable, we mean we cannot change a single value once we declare it.

>>> name=('Ayushi','Sharma')
>>> type(name)

Output

We can also use the function tuple().

>>> name=tuple(['Ayushi','Sharma'])
>>> name

Output

Like we said, a tuple is immutable. Let’s try changing a value.

>>> name[0]='Avery'

Output

4. Bytes Sequences

The function bytes() returns an immutable bytes object. We dealt with this when we talked Built-in Functions in Python.

Let’s take a few examples.

>>> bytes(5)

Output

>>> bytes([1,2,3,4,5])

Output

>>> bytes('hello','utf-8')

Output

Here, utf-8 is the encoding we used.

Since it is immutable, if we try to change an item, it will raise a TypeError.

>>> a=bytes([1,2,3,4,5])
>>> a

Output

>>> a[4]=3

Output

5. Bytes Arrays

In that article, we discussed this one too. A bytesarray object is like a bytes object, but it is mutable.

It returns an array of the given byte size.

>>> a=bytearray(4)
>>> a

Output

>>> a=bytearray(4)
>>> a

Output

>>> a[0]=1
>>> a

Output

>>> a[0]

Output

Let’s try doing this on a list.

>>> bytearray([1,2,3,4])

Output

Finally, let’s try changing a value.

>>> a=bytearray([1,2,3,4,5])
>>> a

Output

>>> a[4]=3
>>> a

Output

See? It is mutable.

6. range() objects

A range() object lends us a range to iterate on; it gives us a list of numbers.

>>> a=range(4)
>>> type(a)

Output

>>> for i in range(7,0,-1):
     print(i)

Output

We took an entire post on Range in Python.

Python Sequence Operations

Since we classify into sequences and collections, we might as well discuss the operations we can perform on them. For simplicity, we will demonstrate these on strings.

1. Concatenation

Concatenation adds the second operand after the first one.

>>> 'Ayu'+'shi'

Output

2. Integer Multiplication

We can make a string print twice by multiplying it by 2.

>>> 'ba'+'na'*2

Output

3. Membership

To check if a value is a member of a sequence, we use the ‘in’ operator.

>>> 'men' in 'Disappointment'

Output

4. Python Slice

Sometimes, we only want a part of a sequence, and not all of it. We do it with the slicing operator.

>>> 'Ayushi'[1:4]

Output

Python Sequence Functions

1. len()

A very common and useful function to pass a sequence to is len(). It returns the length of the Python sequence.

>>> len('Ayushi')

Output

2. min() and max()

min() and max() return the lowest and highest values, respectively, in a Python sequence.

>>> min('cat')

Output

>>> max('cat')

Output

This comparison is based on ASCII values.

Python Sequence Methods

There are some methods that we can call on a Python sequence:

1. Python index()

This method returns the index of the first occurrence of a value.

>>> 'banana'.index('n')

Output

2. Python count()

count() returns the number of occurrences of a value in a Python sequence.

>>> 'banana'.count('na')

Output

>>> 'banana'.count('a')

Output

Python Collections

Python collection, unlike a sequence, does not have a deterministic ordering. Examples include sets and dictionaries.

In a collection, while ordering is arbitrary, physically, they do have an order.

Every time we visit a set, we get its items in the same order. However, if we add or remove an item, it may affect the order.

1. Python Set

A set, in Python, is like a mathematical set in Python. It does not hold duplicates. We can declare a set in two ways:

>>> nums={2,1,3,2}
>>> nums

Output

>>> nums=set([1,3,2])
>>> nums

Output

A set is mutable.

>>> nums.discard(2)
>>> nums

Output

But it may not contain mutable items like lists, dictionaries, or other sets.

2. Python Dictionaries

Think of a dictionary as a real-life dictionary. It holds key-value pairs, and this is how we declare it:

>>> a={'name':1,'dob':2}

Or, you could do:

>>> a=dict()
>>> a['name']=1
>>> a['dob']=2
>>> a

Output

We have yet another way to create a dictionary- a dictionary comprehension.

>>> a={i:2**i for i in range(4)}
>>> a

Output

However, a key cannot be of an unhashable type.

>>> a={[1,2,3]:1,1:[1,2,3]}

Output

So, this was all about the Python sequence and collections tutorial. Hope you like our explanation.

Python Interview Questions on Sequences and Collections

1. What are Python Collections and Sequences?
2. What are the different types of Sequences in Python?
3. Is string, a collection in Python?
4. What are collection data types in Python?
5. Is set, a sequence in Python?

Conclusion

To conclude this Python Sequence and collection tutorial, we will say that a sequence has a deterministic ordering, but a collection does not.

Examples of sequences include strings, lists, tuples, bytes sequences, bytes arrays, and range objects. Those of collections include sets and dictionaries.