Creating a Copy of a List in Python that Can Be Edited Without Affecting the Original list

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Creating a Copy of a List in Python that Can Be Edited Without Affecting the Original List

In the world of programming, particularly in Python, lists are fundamental data structures that allow you to store collections of items. However, when you copy a list with nested elements, you might face unexpected behavior where changes to the copied list can also affect the original. This guide will illustrate this problem and provide a clear solution so you can create a copy of a list that can be edited independently from the original.

The Problem: Understanding List References

Let's say you have the following code intending to create a copy of a list:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

What happens here is that l2 might seem like it should be a separate list, but in reality, it’s only a shallow copy. Because the list l1 contains nested lists, both l1 and l2 share references to those inner lists. As a result, modifying an element in l2 also affects l1. Thus, the output appears as follows:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

As you can see, changing an element in l2 has changed the corresponding element in l1, which is not the desired behavior.

To solve this issue and create a copy of the list that allows for independent modifications, you can utilize the copy module’s deepcopy() function. This function creates a new object that recursively copies all nested objects, ensuring that the original list remains unaffected.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Import the copy module: This contains the necessary method for deep copying objects.

Create the original list: Use your preferred method to build the list structure.

Modify the copy: You can now modify the copied list without altering the original.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Expected Output

When you run the above code, you'll see the following correct output:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

Now go ahead and apply these techniques in your own projects!