In this article, we will learn about the differences between delete, remove and pop methods in python.
All these methods are built-in methods available in python. These methods are used for either deleting or removing items from a list.
1) Python remove() Function
The remove function takes an element as an argument and removes it from a defined list. If the element doesn’t exist in the list, python throws valueError exception.
Syntax:
List_name.remove(element)
Example: remove()
petlist = ['dog', 'cat', 'mouse', 'rabbit']
petlist.remove('mouse')
print ('Updated list of pets:', petlist)
Output
Updated list of pets: ['dog', 'cat', 'rabbit'])
Explanation
In the above example, we first defined a list called ‘petlist’. Then we used the remove() function to remove ‘mouse’ from the list. Then after removing the list element, we printed the updated list.
2) Python pop() Function
Python pop() function is used to return the removed element from the given list. It takes the index value of an element as an argument. If there is no index value, python will throw index error: pop index out of range exception.
The index value is an optional parameter for pop() function. If no parameter is passed, the default index -1 is taken and it returns the last item from the list.
Syntax
List_name.pop(index_no)
For Example
#list of Languages
language = ['Hindi', 'English', 'Marathi', 'Bengali', 'urdu']
#Return value from pop()
#When 4 is passed
return_value = language.pop(4)
print('Return Value: ', return_value)
# Updated List
print('Updated List: ', language)
Output
Return Value: urdu
Updated List: ['Hindi', 'English', 'Marathi', 'Bengali']
Explanation
In the above example, we used the pop() function to pop an element at a specified index. In this case, the element we popped is at index 4. And then we printed the returned value i.e ‘urdu’. In the last line of the code we printed the updated list.
If we do not provide any index value then
language = ['urdu', 'English', 'Marathi', 'Bengali', 'hindi']
# Return value from pop()
# When no index is passed
return_value = language.pop()
print('Return Value: ', return_value)
# Updated List
print('Updated List: ', language)
Output
Return Value: hindi
Updated List: ['urdu', 'English', 'Marathi', 'Bengali']
Explanation
In the above example, we did not passed an index value. And when no index value is given, then the last element is popped out. In this case, the last element is ‘Hindi’.
3) Del Python List Function
We use del() method to delete an item not to return any value. Using del() method we can also delete a range of value from the given list of elements.
Syntax
del List_name(index)
Example
numberslist = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
# deleting the third item
del numberslist[2]
print ('the output list :', numberslist )
Output
the output list : [1, 2, 4, 5, 6]
Explanation
In the above code, we used the del method to remove the element at a specified index. In this case, we removed the element at index 2 i.e element ‘3’.
Deleting Items from 2nd to 5th
numberslist = [10, 21, 43, 54, 51, 36]
# deleting the third item/slice
del numberslist[2:5]
print ('the output list :', numberslist )
Output
the output list : [10, 21, 36]
Explanation
In the above example, we deleted the elements from index ‘2’ to ‘5’. The element at index 5 is not included but the element at index 2 is included.
Deleting All Elements
numberslist = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
# deleting all elements
del numberslist[:]
print ('the out put list :', numberslist )
Explanation
In the above example, we deleted all the elements of the list ‘numberlist’. And we printed the list we got an empty list.
Note: only the items/elements of a list are deleted and not the list.
Output:
the output list : []
Conclusion
Python pop() vs remove() vs del function
- The remove() function removes the first matching value from the list.
- The pop() function is used to return the removed element from the list.
- The del() function is used to delete an element at a specified index number in the list.