slicing

In Python, slicing is an operation that allows you to extract portions of sequences like lists, tuples, and strings by specifying a start, stop, and step indices with the syntax sequence[start:stop:step].

In this syntax, start is the index where the slice begins, stop is the index where the slice ends (exclusive), and step determines the stride between each element in the slice. If you omit start, stop, or step, then they default to the beginning of the sequence, the end of the sequence, and a step of one, respectively.

With slicing, you can quickly obtain a subset of items without modifying the original sequence, making it an essential feature for any Python programmer.

Example

Here’s a quick example of how you can use slicing with a list:

Python
>>> numbers = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

>>> # Get a slice of numbers from index 2 to 5
>>> numbers[2:6]
[2, 3, 4, 5]

>>> # Get every other element from the list
>>> numbers[::2]
[0, 2, 4, 6, 8]

Tutorial

Python's list Data Type: A Deep Dive With Examples

In this tutorial, you'll dive deep into Python's lists. You'll learn how to create them, update their content, populate and grow them, and more. Along the way, you'll code practical examples that will help you strengthen your skills with this fundamental data type in Python.

intermediate data-structures python

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:


By Leodanis Pozo Ramos • Updated June 3, 2025