Get the index of an item in Python List – 3 Easy Methods

Get The Index Of An Item In A Python List

Hello, readers! Hope you all are doing well. In this article, we will be focusing on the Different techniques to get the index of an element in a Python List.

So, let us get started.


What is a Python List?

A Python list is a data structure that plays the role of an Array efficiently. Moreover, a “list” stores elements in a dynamic manner and can be used to store elements of different types unlike, Arrays.

Thus, Lists can be considered as a better replacement for the Array data structure and can hold heterogeneous elements altogether.


How to get the index of an item in a Python List?

Having understood the working of Python List, let us now begin with the different methods to get the index of an item of the List.

Method 1: List Comprehension

Python List Comprehension can be used to avail the list of indices of all the occurrences of a particular element in a List.

Syntax:

[expression for element in iterator if condition]

Using List comprehension, we can get the index values i.e. position of all the occurrences of an item in the List.

Example:

lst = [10,20,30,10,50,10,45,10] 

print ("List : " ,lst) 

res = [x for x in range(len(lst)) if lst[x] == 10] 

print ("Indices at which element 10 is present: " + str(res)) 

Output:

List :  [10, 20, 30, 10, 50, 10, 45, 10]
Indices at which element 10 is present: [0, 3, 5, 7]

Method 2: Using index() method

Python’s inbuilt index() method can be used to get the index value of a particular element of the List.

Syntax:

index(element,start,end)

The start and end parameters are optional and represent the range of positions within which search is to be performed.

Unlike other methods, the index() method returns only the index value of the first occurrence of the particular item in the list.

If the mentioned element is not present in the List, a ValueError exception is raised.

Example:

lst = [10,20,30,10,50,10,45,10] 

print ("List : " ,lst) 

print("Index at which element 10 is present :",lst.index(10)) 

Output:

List :  [10, 20, 30, 10, 50, 10, 45, 10]
Index at which element 10 is present : 0

Method 3: Using enumerate() function

Python enumerate() method can also be used to return the index positions of all the occurrences of the particular element in the List.

Example:

lst = [10,20,30,10,50,10,45,10] 

print ("List : " ,lst) 

res = [x for x, z in enumerate(lst) if z == 10] 
 
print ("Indices at which element 10 is present: " + str(res)) 

Here, the enumerate() method sets a counter which increments after every successful search of that particular item and returns the index value of it.

Output:

List :  [10, 20, 30, 10, 50, 10, 45, 10]
Indices at which element 10 is present: [0, 3, 5, 7]

Conclusion

By this, we have come to the end of this topic. Feel free to comment below, in case you come across any question. Till then, Happy Learning!!


References