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Remove Last Element From List Python

Last Updated : Mar 11, 2024

Remove Last Element From List Python

In this tutorial we will show you the solution of remove last element from list python, insertion and deletion are some of the most important operations to perform when working in any data structure.

Some programming languages provide some built-in functions to insert and delete an element from an array or list. Let’s get started.

Step By Step Guide On Remove Last Element From List Python :-

When it comes to quickly storing and manipulating data while programming, Python lists are one of the most commonly utilized sequential data structures.

Python provides us with an array of methods using which you can remove the last element of the list.

This removal operation reduces the length of the list by one. Some of the methods are described below.

  • Making use of the list.pop() method
  • Using Slicing
  • Using a del statement
originalList = [1,2,3,4,5]

#Using the pop() function to remove last element from a list
print(originalList)
originalList.pop()
print(originalList)

#Using slicing to remove last element from a list
print(originalList)
originalList = originalList[:-1]
print(originalList)

#Using the del statement to remove last element from a list
print(originalList)
del originalList[-1]
print(originalList)
  1. The first contains a variable named originalList, which is a list. It holds some integer values in it.
  2. The next line is a comment which says “Using the pop() function to remove last element from a list”, which is the first method you can use to remove the last element from a list in a Python program.
  3. In the next line there is a print statement which will print the whole list without removing the last element from the originalList.
  4. The list.pop() function will accept one argument, which is the index position in the list, but it is optional because if any index is not specified, then by default the last element will be deleted from the list.
  5. This method returns the element that was popped from the list. The pop() function also raises an IndexError if you try to remove an element from an empty list.
  6. The next line is again a print statement which will display the list with the last element removed from the originalList. Here it will display [1, 2, 3, 4].
  7. In the next there is a comment which says “Using slicing to remove last element from a list”, which is the second method you can use to remove the last element from a list.
  8. The next line is a print statement which will print the list after the removal of the element from first approach.
  9. In the next line, the slicing of the originalList takes place. For slicing a list, you need to provide the starting and ending index in the subscript operator.
  10. The index of the last element of a list is -1, and that of the second last element is -2, and so on. Here the slicing of the list will result in a whole new list excluding the last element, which will be assigned to the variable named “originalList” in the next line.
  11. This approach, however, has a major drawback: it generates a copy of the sliced list which needs to be stored in a list variable. That’s why it is not recommended.
  12. In the next line, there is again a print statement which will display the list without the last element in the list, which is [1, 2, 3].
  13. In the next line there is a comment saying that “Using the del statement to remove last element from a list”, which is the last method in this article that you can use to remove the last element from a list.
  14. In the next line, there is a print statement which will display the list with the removal of the last element from the previous approach we have used.
  15. The del statement differs from the pop() function as it does not return the removed element, and unlike the slicing function, this doesn’t create a new list.
  16. The del statement deletes the element at the specified index location from the list. To delete the last element, you can use the negative index of -1.
  17. In the next line there is a print statement which will print the originalList without the last element in it.

Conclusion :-

So finally, in conclusion, we can say that with the help of this article, you can now remove the last element from a list in a Python program.

You can use any of the methods mentioned above that you find easy to understand.

The first method of the pop() function is the simplest and recommended way to remove the last element from a list.

I hope this tutorial on remove last element from list python helps you and the steps and method mentioned above are easy to follow and implement.

Author Image About Riya

A recent graduate with a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Computer Science from India. She is passionate about leveraging technology to solve real-world problems. With a strong foundation and experience in programming languages such as Python, Django, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, java, php and have honed her skills through hands-on projects and coursework.

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