Lists

Abstract

Lists help programmers manage larger amounts of data by allowing several (or even many) values to be stored in one variable. As a program executes it can transform a list (and the values within it) in numerous ways. Creatively applying these transformations, together with loops and decision making constructs, allows complex problems involving large amounts of data to be solved with a small number of variables. The specific list concepts explored in this chapter include:

• Creating a new list,

• Modifying a list by appending, inserting, updating and deleting elements,

• Searching a list for a value,

• Displaying some or all of the elements in a list, and

• Writing a function that takes a list as an argument or returns a list as a result.

The chapter concludes with 26 exercises that allow the reader to use these concepts to solve a variety of problems.