How do I get the last element of a list? Which way is preferred? alist[-1] alist[len(alist) - 1]

 

In Python, you can use both alist[-1] and alist[len(alist) - 1] to access the last element of a list. However, using alist[-1] is the preferred and more idiomatic way in Python to achieve this. It's simpler, more concise, and widely used among Python developers.

Here's an example demonstrating both approaches:

python

alist = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]

# Using alist[-1] to get the last element
last_element1 = alist[-1]
print("Using alist[-1]:", last_element1)  # Output: 50

# Using alist[len(alist) - 1] to get the last element
last_element2 = alist[len(alist) - 1]
print("Using alist[len(alist) - 1]:", last_element2)  # Output: 50

As you can see, both approaches provide the same result. However, using alist[-1] is considered more Pythonic and easier to read. It's also less error-prone, as you don't need to calculate the length of the list explicitly.

In Python, negative indexing (alist[-1], alist[-2], etc.) is used to access elements from the end of the list. The index -1 corresponds to the last element, -2 to the second-to-last element, and so on. This feature makes it more convenient to access elements relative to the end of the list without needing to know its length.