[Tutor] list initialization question

[Tim Condit]

Hello, 

I just want to say a quick thanks for all the help I've gotten on my
question. Not only did I get very prompt responses, but they were
consistent too! This is one of the things I really like about Python.. 
the clarity and consistency. (A lot of the time) I can focus on the
problem I'm trying to solve, and the language lets me do it. The rest of
the time, there is a friendly user community that is very helpful. :)

Thanks, 
Tim 


On Mon, 3 Apr 2000 alan.gauld@bt.com wrote:

> > Why does this fail...
> > 
> > >>> x = []
> 
> Here you create an empty list - ie. no members
> 
> > >>> for i in range(11):
> > ...      x[i] = whrandom.randint(1, 100)
> 
> here you try to access the ith element of x 
> - which doesn't exist yet....
> 
> Try x.append(....) instead.
> 
> > ... but this succeeds? 
> > 
> > >>> x = range(11)
> 
> Here you create a list with 11 members
> 
> > >>> for i in range(11):
> > ...      x[i] = whrandom.randint(1, 100)
> 
> and access one of its members.
> 
> > Is it necessary to not only initialize a list, but also to 
> > populate it?
> 
> Yes, or use append.
> 
> Alan G.
>