Accessing elements from a list in Python is straightforward. Lists are ordered, and each item has an index starting from 0.

Accessing Items Using Index

You can use the index number to access specific items in a list.

Example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(fruits[0])   # First item
print(fruits[1])   # Second item

Output:

apple
banana

Negative Indexing

Negative indexing allows you to access items from the end of the list.

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
print(fruits[-1])   # Last item
print(fruits[-2])   # Second last item

Output:

cherry
banana

Range of Indexes (Slicing)

You can access a range of items using list slicing.

list[start_index : end_index]

Syntax:

list[start_index : end_index]

 Note: The end index is excluded.

Example:

fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi"]
print(fruits[1:4])

Output:

['banana', 'cherry', 'orange']

Omitting Start or End Index

Example:

# From beginning to index 3 (excluding 3)
print(fruits[:3])
# From index 2 to the end
print(fruits[2:])

Output:

['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']
['cherry', 'orange', 'kiwi']

Range with Negative Indexes

You can combine slicing with negative indexes.

Example:

print(fruits[-4:-1])

Output:

['banana', 'cherry', 'orange']

Using a Loop to Access Items

You can also iterate through a list using a for loop:

Example:

for fruit in fruits:
   print(fruit)

Output:

apple
banana
cherry
orange
kiwi

Summary

• Use list[index] to access a single item.
• Use negative indexes to access items from the end.
• Use slicing list[start:end] to get a sublist.
• Python lists start at index 0.