slice() to get slice object to use in breaking of list, tuple, string and other iterable objects

slice(start,stop,step) returns slice object for breaking string, list , tuple etc.

start	(optional) default = 0 , The start position of the slice
stop	( required ), slice should Stop before this position
step	( optional ) default =1 , step to consider for slicing

slice() with start stop and step positions

Start, stop and step values are indices of a range.

If one value is given then it is considered as stop value as default start is 0 and step value is 1.
If two values are given then it is considered as start and stop values and step value is set to 1
If three values are given then they are considered as start , stop and step values.

creating slice object

obj_slice1=slice(2) 
print(obj_slice1)       # slice(None, 2, None)
obj_slice2=slice(2,4)   
print(obj_slice2)       # slice(2, 4, None)
obj_slice3=slice(2,4,2)
print(obj_slice3)       # slice(2, 4, 2)

applying slice object

We will apply these slice objects to our list, tuple, string etc to break them at different positions.

Let us use slice object to break a list. While creating the slice object we have taken one parameter only so it will be used as stop value. Here start = 0 , stop=2 and step =1. Starting from 0^th position, the slice will stop before 2 ( i.e at the 1^st position ). The default value for step is 1.

obj_slice=slice(2)
my_list=[5,2,1,4,9,3,6]
print(my_list[obj_slice])  # [5,2]

Now start=2, stop=5 and step=1

obj_slice=slice(2,5,1)
my_set=(5,2,1,4,9,3,6)
print(my_set[obj_slice]) # (1,4,9)

Using a string

start=2, stop=5, step=1

obj_slice=slice(2,5)
my_str='plus2net'
print(my_str[obj_slice]) # us2

Using negative indices

Count position from right end.

obj_slice=slice(-5,-2)
my_str='plus2net'
print(my_str[obj_slice]) # s2n

obj_slice=slice(-7,-1,2)
my_str='plus2net'
print(my_str[obj_slice]) # lsn

data type of slice()

We will use type() to get the data type of the slice object

obj_slice=slice(1,5,1)
print(type(obj_slice)) # <class 'slice'>

Why we can apply slice object to a set ?

obj_slice=slice(2,5)
my_set={5,2,1,4,9,3,6}
print(my_set[obj_slice])

Error will be generated.

TypeError: 'set' object is not subscriptable

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Subhendu Mohapatra

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