code confusion

[Tola Oj]

i = int(input())
lis = list(map(int,input().strip().split()))[:i]
z = max(lis)
while max(lis) == z:
lis.remove(max(lis))

print (max(lis))

this is an answer to a question from the discussion chat in hackerrank. i
didn't know the answer so i found an answer that fitted well to the
question, however i struggle to understand the use of some of the methods
and functions the person has used. my major questions are: 1. what does
"[:i]" mean
                                                         2. is there
another i could write this code using if statement?
thank you