indexerror list assignment index out of range dictionary

IndexError: list assignment index out of range in Python

Last updated: Apr 8, 2024 Reading time · 9 min

# Table of Contents

• IndexError: list assignment index out of range
• (CSV) IndexError: list index out of range
• sys.argv[1] IndexError: list index out of range
• IndexError: pop index out of range

Make sure to click on the correct subheading depending on your error message.

# IndexError: list assignment index out of range in Python

The Python "IndexError: list assignment index out of range" occurs when we try to assign a value at an index that doesn't exist in the list.

To solve the error, use the append() method to add an item to the end of the list, e.g. my_list.append('b') .

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

The list has a length of 3 . Since indexes in Python are zero-based, the first index in the list is 0 , and the last is 2 .

Trying to assign a value to any positive index outside the range of 0-2 would cause the IndexError .

# Adding an item to the end of the list with append()

If you need to add an item to the end of a list, use the list.append() method instead.

The list.append() method adds an item to the end of the list.

The method returns None as it mutates the original list.

# Changing the value of the element at the last index in the list

If you meant to change the value of the last index in the list, use -1 .

When the index starts with a minus, we start counting backward from the end of the list.

# Declaring a list that contains N elements and updating a certain index

Alternatively, you can declare a list that contains N elements with None values.

The item you specify in the list will be contained N times in the new list the operation returns.

Make sure to wrap the value you want to repeat in a list.

If the list contains a value at the specific index, then you are able to change it.

# Using a try/except statement to handle the error

If you need to handle the error if the specified list index doesn't exist, use a try/except statement.

The list in the example has 3 elements, so its last element has an index of 2 .

We wrapped the assignment in a try/except block, so the IndexError is handled by the except block.

You can also use a pass statement in the except block if you need to ignore the error.

The pass statement does nothing and is used when a statement is required syntactically but the program requires no action.

# Getting the length of a list

If you need to get the length of the list, use the len() function.

The len() function returns the length (the number of items) of an object.

The argument the function takes may be a sequence (a string, tuple, list, range or bytes) or a collection (a dictionary, set, or frozen set).

If you need to check if an index exists before assigning a value, use an if statement.

This means that you can check if the list's length is greater than the index you are trying to assign to.

# Trying to assign a value to an empty list at a specific index

Note that if you try to assign to an empty list at a specific index, you'd always get an IndexError .

You should print the list you are trying to access and its length to make sure the variable stores what you expect.

# Use the extend() method to add multiple items to the end of a list

If you need to add multiple items to the end of a list, use the extend() method.

The list.extend method takes an iterable (such as a list) and extends the list by appending all of the items from the iterable.

The list.extend method returns None as it mutates the original list.

# (CSV) IndexError: list index out of range in Python

The Python CSV "IndexError: list index out of range" occurs when we try to access a list at an index out of range, e.g. an empty row in a CSV file.

To solve the error, check if the row isn't empty before accessing it at an index, or check if the index exists in the list.

Assume we have the following CSV file.

And we are trying to read it as follows.

# Check if the list contains elements before accessing it

One way to solve the error is to check if the list contains any elements before accessing it at an index.

The if statement checks if the list is truthy on each iteration.

All values that are not truthy are considered falsy. The falsy values in Python are:

• constants defined to be falsy: None and False .
• 0 (zero) of any numeric type
• empty sequences and collections: "" (empty string), () (empty tuple), [] (empty list), {} (empty dictionary), set() (empty set), range(0) (empty range).

# Check if the index you are trying to access exists in the list

Alternatively, you can check whether the specific index you are trying to access exists in the list.

This means that you can check if the list's length is greater than the index you are trying to access.

# Use a try/except statement to handle the error

Alternatively, you can use a try/except block to handle the error.

We try to access the list of the current iteration at index 1 , and if an IndexError is raised, we can handle it in the except block or continue to the next iteration.

# sys.argv [1] IndexError: list index out of range in Python

The sys.argv "IndexError: list index out of range in Python" occurs when we run a Python script without specifying values for the required command line arguments.

To solve the error, provide values for the required arguments, e.g. python main.py first second .

I ran the script with python main.py .

The sys.argv list contains the command line arguments that were passed to the Python script.

# Provide all of the required command line arguments

To solve the error, make sure to provide all of the required command line arguments when running the script, e.g. python main.py first second .

Notice that the first item in the list is always the name of the script.

It is operating system dependent if this is the full pathname or not.

# Check if the sys.argv list contains the index

If you don't have to always specify all of the command line arguments that your script tries to access, use an if statement to check if the sys.argv list contains the index that you are trying to access.

I ran the script as python main.py without providing any command line arguments, so the condition wasn't met and the else block ran.

We tried accessing the list item at index 1 which raised an IndexError exception.

You can handle the error or use the pass keyword in the except block.

# IndexError: pop index out of range in Python

The Python "IndexError: pop index out of range" occurs when we pass an index that doesn't exist in the list to the pop() method.

To solve the error, pass an index that exists to the method or call the pop() method without arguments to remove the last item from the list.

The list has a length of 3 . Since indexes in Python are zero-based, the first item in the list has an index of 0 , and the last an index of 2 .

If you need to remove the last item in the list, call the method without passing it an index.

The list.pop method removes the item at the given position in the list and returns it.

You can also use negative indices to count backward, e.g. my_list.pop(-1) removes the last item of the list, and my_list.pop(-2) removes the second-to-last item.

Alternatively, you can check if an item at the specified index exists before passing it to pop() .

This means that you can check if the list's length is greater than the index you are passing to pop() .

An alternative approach to handle the error is to use a try/except block.

If calling the pop() method with the provided index raises an IndexError , the except block is run, where we can handle the error or use the pass keyword to ignore it.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• IndexError: index 0 is out of bounds for axis 0 with size 0
• IndexError: invalid index to scalar variable in Python
• IndexError: pop from empty list in Python [Solved]
• Replacement index 1 out of range for positional args tuple
• IndexError: too many indices for array in Python [Solved]
• IndexError: tuple index out of range in Python [Solved]

Borislav Hadzhiev

Web Developer

Copyright © 2024 Borislav Hadzhiev

How to Fix the “List index out of range” Error in Python

• learn python

At many points in your Python programming career, you’re going to run into the “List index out of range” error while writing your programs. What does this mean, and how do we fix this error? We’ll answer that question in this article.

The short answer is: this error occurs when you’re trying to access an item outside of your list’s range. The long answer, on the other hand, is much more interesting. To get there, we’ll learn a lot about how lists work, how to index things the bad way and the good way, and finally how to solve the above-mentioned error.

This article is aimed at Python beginners who have little experience in programming. Understanding this error early will save you plenty of time down the road. If you’re looking for some learning material, our Python Basics track includes 3 interactive courses bundled together to get you on your feet.

Indexing Python Lists

Lists are one of the most useful data structures in Python. And they come with a whole bunch of useful methods . Other Python data structures include tuples, arrays, dictionaries, and sets, but we won’t go into their details here. For hands-on experience with these structures, we have a Python Data Structures in Practice course which is suitable for beginners.

A list can be created as follows:

Instead of using square brackets ([]) to define your list, you can also use the list() built-in function.

There are already a few interesting things to note about the above example. First, you can store any data type in a list, such as an integer, string, floating-point number, or even another list. Second, the elements don’t have to be unique: the integer 1 appears twice in the above example.

The elements in a list are indexed starting from 0. Therefore, to access the first element, do the following:

Our list contains 6 elements, which you can get using the len() built-in function. To access the last element of the list, you might naively try to do the following:

This is equivalent to print(x[len(x)]) . Since list indexing starts from 0, the last element has index len(x)–1 . When we try to access the index len(x) , we are outside the range of the list and get the error. A more robust way to get the final element of the list looks like this:

While this works, it’s not the most pythonic way. A better method exploits a nice feature of lists – namely, that they can be indexed from the end of the list by using a negative number as the index. The final element can be printed as follows:

The second last element can be accessed with the index -2, and so on. This means using the index -6 will get back to the first element. Taking it one step further:

Notice this asymmetry. The first error was trying to access the element after the last with the index 6, and the second error was trying to access the element before the first with the index -7. This is due to forward indexing starting at 0 (the start of the list), and backwards indexing starting at -1 (the end of the list). This is shown graphically below:

Looping Through Lists

Whenever you’re working with lists, you’ll need to know about loops. A loop allows you to iterate through all the elements in a list.

The first type of loop we’ll take a look at is the while loop. You have to be a little more careful with while loops, because a small mistake will make them run forever, requiring you to force the program to quit. Once again, let’s try to naively loop through our list:

In this example we define our index, i , to start from zero. After every iteration of our while loop, we print the list element and then go to the next index with the += assignment operator. (This is a neat little trick, which is like doing i=i+1 .)

By the way, if you forget the final line, you’ll get an infinite loop.

We encountered the index error for the same reason as in the first section – the final element has index len(x)-1 . Just modify the condition of the while statement to reflect this, and it will work without problems.

Most of your looping will be done with a for loop, which we’ll now turn our attention to. A better method to loop through the elements in our list without the risk of running into the index error is to take advantage of the range() built-in function. This takes three arguments, of which only the stop argument is required. Try the following:

The combination of the range() and len() built-in functions takes care of worrying about when to stop indexing our list to avoid the index out of range error entirely. This method, however, is only useful if you care about knowing what the index is.

For example, maybe you want to print out the index and the element. In that case, all you need to do is modify the print() statement to print(i, x[i]) . Try doing this for yourself to see the result. Alternatively, you can use The enumerate() function in Python.

If you just want to get the element, there’s a simpler way that’s much more intuitive and readable. Just loop through the elements of the list directly:

If the user inputs an index outside the range of the list (e.g. 6), they’ll run into the list index error again. We can modify the function to check the input value with an if statement:

Doing this prevents our program from crashing if the index is out of range. You can even use a negative index in the above function.

There are other ways to do error handling in Python that will help you avoid errors like “list index out of range”. For example, you could implement a try-exceptaa block instead of the if-else statement.

To see a try-except block in action, let’s handle a potential index error in the get_value() function we wrote above. Preventing the error looks like this:

As you can probably see, the second method is a little more concise and readable. It’s also less error-prone than explicitly checking the input index with an if-else statement.

Master the “List index out of range” Error in Python

You should now know what the index out of range error in Python means, why it pops up, and how to prevent it in your Python programs.

A useful way to debug this error and understand how your programs are running is simply to print the index and compare it to the length of your list.

This error could also occur when iterating over other data structures, such as arrays, tuples, or even when iterating through a string. Using strings is a little different from  using lists; if you want to learn the tools to master this topic, consider taking our Working with Strings in Python course. The skills you learnt here should be applicable to many common use cases.

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Python List Index Out of Range – How to Fix IndexError

In Python, the IndexError is a common exception that occurs when trying to access an element in a list, tuple, or any other sequence using an index that is outside the valid range of indices for that sequence. List Index Out of Range Occur in Python when an item from a list is tried to be accessed that is outside the range of the list. Before we proceed to fix the error, let’s discuss how indexing work in Python .

What Causes an IndexError in Python

• Accessing Non-Existent Index: When you attempt to access an index of a sequence (such as a list or a string) that is out of range, an Indexerror is raised. Sequences in Python are zero-indexed, which means that the first element’s index is 0, the second element’s index is 1, and so on.
• Empty List: If you try to access an element from an empty list, an Indexerror will be raised since there are no elements in the list to access.

Example: Here our list is 3 and we are printing with size 4 so in this case, it will create a list index out of range.

Similarly, we can also get an Indexerror when using negative indices.

How to Fix IndexError in Python

• Check List Length: It’s important to check if an index is within the valid range of a list before accessing an element. To do so, you can use the function to determine the length of the list and make sure the index falls within the range of 0 to length-1.
• Use Conditional Statements: To handle potential errors, conditional statements like “if” or “else” blocks can be used. For example, an “if” statement can be used to verify if the index is valid before accessing the element. if or try-except blocks to handle the potential IndexError . For instance, you can use a if statement to check if the index is valid before accessing the element.

How to Fix List Index Out of Range in Python

Let’s see some examples that showed how we may solve the error.

• Using Python range()
• Using Python Index()
• Using Try Except Block

Python Fix List Index Out of Range using Range()

The range is used to give a specific range, and the Python range() function returns the sequence of the given number between the given range.

Python Fix List Index Out of Range u sing Index()

Here we are going to create a list and then try to iterate the list using the constant values in for loops.

Reason for the error –  The length of the list is 5 and if we are an iterating list on 6 then it will generate the error.

Solving this error without using Python len() or constant Value: To solve this error we will take the index of the last value of the list and then add one then it will become the exact value of length.

Python Fix List Index Out of Range using Try Except Block

If we expect that an index might be out of range, we can use a try-except block to handle the error gracefully.

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How to Fix “IndexError: List Assignment Index Out of Range” in Python

Table of Contents

The IndexError: List Assignment Index Out of Range error occurs when you assign a value to an index that is beyond the valid range of indices in the list. As Python uses zero-based indexing, when you try to access an element at an index less than 0 or greater than or equal to the list’s length, you trigger this error.

It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Think of it this way: you have a row of ten mailboxes, numbered from 0 to 9. These mailboxes represent the list in Python. Now, if you try to put a letter into mailbox number 10, which doesn't exist, you'll face a problem. Similarly, if you try to put a letter into any negative number mailbox, you'll face the same issue because those mailboxes don't exist either.

The IndexError: List Assignment Index Out of Range error in Python is like trying to put a letter into a mailbox that doesn't exist in our row of mailboxes. Just as you can't access a non-existent mailbox, you can't assign a value to an index in a list that doesn't exist.

Let’s take a look at example code that raises this error and some strategies to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Example of “IndexError: List Assignment Index Out of Range”

Remember, assigning a value at an index that is negative or out of bounds of the valid range of indices of the list raises the error.

How to resolve “IndexError: List Assignment Index Out of Range”

You can use methods such as append() or insert() to insert a new element into the list.

How to use the append() method

Use the append() method to add elements to extend the list properly and avoid out-of-range assignments.

How to use the insert() method

Use the insert() method to insert elements at a specific position instead of direct assignment to avoid out-of-range assignments.

Now one big advantage of using insert() is even if you specify an index position which is way out of range it won’t give any error and it will just append the element at the end of the list.

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Python IndexError: List Index Out of Range Error Explained

• November 15, 2021 December 19, 2022

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how all about the Python list index out of range error, including what it is, why it occurs, and how to resolve it.

The IndexError is one of the most common Python runtime errors that you’ll encounter in your programming journey. For the most part, these these errors are quite easy to resolve, once you understand why they occur.

Throughout this tutorial, you’ll learn why the error occurs and walk through some scenarios where you might encounter it. You’ll also learn how to resolve the error in these scenarios .

The Quick Answer:

Table of Contents

What is the Python IndexError?

Let’s take a little bit of time to explore what the Python IndexError is and what it looks like. When you encounter the error, you’ll see an error message displayed as below:

We can break down the text a little bit. We can see here that the message tells us that the index is out of range . This means that we are trying to access an index item in a Python list that is out of range, meaning that an item doesn’t have an index position.

An item that doesn’t have an index position in a Python list, well, doesn’t exist.

In Python, like many other programming languages, a list index begins at position 0 and continues to n-1 , where n is the length of the list (or the number of items in that list).

This causes a fairly common error to occur. Say we are working with a list with 4 items. If we wanted to access the fourth item, you may try to do this by using the index of 4. This, however, would throw the error. This is because the 4 th item actually has the index of 3.

Let’s take a look at a sample list and try to access an item that doesn’t exist:

We can see here that the index error occurs on the last item we try to access.

The simplest solution is to simply not try to access an item that doesn’t exist . But that’s easier said than done. How do we prevent the IndexError from occurring? In the next two sections, you’ll learn how to fix the error from occurring in their most common situations: Python for loops and Python while loops.

Need to check if a key exists in a Python dictionary? Check out this tutorial , which teaches you five different ways of seeing if a key exists in a Python dictionary, including how to return a default value.

Python IndexError with For Loop

You may encounter the Python IndexError while running a Python for loop. This is particularly common when you try to loop over the list using the range() function .

Let’s take a look at the situation where this error would occur:

The way that we can fix this error from occurring is to simply stop the iteration from occurring before the list runs out of items . The way that we can do this is to change our for loop from going to our length + 1, to the list’s length. When we do this, we stop iterating over the list’s indices before the lengths value.

This solves the IndexError since it causes the list to stop iterating at position length - 1 , since our index begins at 0, rather than at 1.

Let’s see how we can change the code to run correctly:

Now that you have an understanding of how to resolve the Python IndexError in a for loop, let’s see how we can resolve the error in a Python while-loop.

Want to learn more about Python for-loops? Check out my in-depth tutorial that takes your from beginner to advanced for-loops user! Want to watch a video instead? Check out my YouTube tutorial here .

Python IndexError with While Loop

You may also encounter the Python IndexError when running a while loop.

For example, it may be tempting to run a while loop to iterate over each index position in a list. You may, for example, write a program that looks like this:

The reason that this program fails is that we iterate over the list one too many times. The reason this is true is that we are using a <= (greater than or equal to sign). Because Python list indices begin at the value 0, their max index is actually equal to the number of items in the list minus 1.

We can resolve this by simply changing the operator a less than symbol, < . This prevents the loop from looping over the index from going out of range.

In the next section, you'll learn a better way to iterate over a Python list to prevent the IndexError .

Want to learn more about Python f-strings? Check out my in-depth tutorial , which includes a step-by-step video to master Python f-strings!

How to Fix the Python IndexError

There are two simple ways in which you can iterate over a Python list to prevent the Python IndexError .

The first is actually a very plain language way of looping over a list. We don't actually need the list index to iterate over a list. We can simply access its items directly.

This directly prevents Python from going beyond the maximum index.

Want to learn how to use the Python zip() function to iterate over two lists? This tutorial teaches you exactly what the zip() function does and shows you some creative ways to use the function.

But what if you need to access the list's index?

If you need to access the list's index and a list item, then a much safer alternative is to use the Python enumerate() function.

When you pass a list into the enumerate() function, an enumerate object is returned. This allows you to access both the index and the item for each item in a list. The function implicitly stops at the maximum index, but allows you to get quite a bit of information.

Let's take a look at how we can use the enumerate() function to prevent the Python IndexError .

We can see here that we the loop stops before the index goes out of range and thereby prevents the Python IndexError .

Check out some other Python tutorials on datagy, including our complete guide to styling Pandas and our comprehensive overview of Pivot Tables in Pandas !

In this tutorial, you learned how to understand the Python IndexError : list item out of range. You learned why the error occurs, including some common scenarios such as for loops and while loops. You learned some better ways of iterating over a Python list, such as by iterating over items implicitly as well as using the Python enumerate() function.

To learn more about the Python IndexError , check out the official documentation here .

Nik Piepenbreier

Nik is the author of datagy.io and has over a decade of experience working with data analytics, data science, and Python. He specializes in teaching developers how to use Python for data science using hands-on tutorials. View Author posts

1 thought on “Python IndexError: List Index Out of Range Error Explained”

from django.contrib import messages from django.shortcuts import render, redirect

from home.forms import RewardModeLForm from item.models import Item from person.models import Person from .models import Reward, YoutubeVideo # Create your views here.

def home(request): my_reward = Reward.objects.all()[:1] # First Div last_person_post = Person.objects.all()[:1] last_item_post = Item.objects.all()[:1] # 2nd Div lost_person = Person.objects.filter(person=”L”).all()[:1] lost_item = Item.objects.filter(category=”L”).all()[:2] # End 2 div

home_found = Person.objects.all()[:3] home_item = Item.objects.all()[:3] videos = YoutubeVideo.objects.all()[:3] context = { ‘my_reward’: my_reward, ‘lost_person’: lost_person, ‘lost_item’: lost_item, ‘home_found’: home_found, ‘home_item’: home_item, ‘videos’: videos, } if last_person_post[0].update > last_item_post[0].update: context[‘last_post’] = last_person_post else: context[‘last_post’] = last_item_post

return render(request, ‘home/home.html’, context)

# Reward Function

def reward(request): if request.method == ‘POST’: form = RewardModeLForm(request.POST or None) if form.is_valid(): instance = form.save(commit=False) instance.user = request.user instance.save() messages.add_message(request, messages.SUCCESS, ‘Reward Updated .’) return redirect(‘home’) else: form = RewardModeLForm() context = { ‘form’: form, } return render(request, ‘home/reward.html’, context) index out of rage

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Python indexerror: list assignment index out of range Solution

An IndexError is nothing to worry about. It’s an error that is raised when you try to access an index that is outside of the size of a list. How do you solve this issue? Where can it be raised?

In this article, we’re going to answer those questions. We will discuss what IndexErrors are and how you can solve the “list assignment index out of range” error. We’ll walk through an example to help you see exactly what causes this error.

Find your bootcamp match

Without further ado, let’s begin!

The Problem: indexerror: list assignment index out of range

When you receive an error message, the first thing you should do is read it. An error message can tell you a lot about the nature of an error.

Our error message is: indexerror: list assignment index out of range.

IndexError tells us that there is a problem with how we are accessing an index . An index is a value inside an iterable object, such as a list or a string.

The message “list assignment index out of range” tells us that we are trying to assign an item to an index that does not exist.

In order to use indexing on a list, you need to initialize the list. If you try to assign an item into a list at an index position that does not exist, this error will be raised.

An Example Scenario

The list assignment error is commonly raised in for and while loops .

We’re going to write a program that adds all the cakes containing the word “Strawberry” into a new array. Let’s start by declaring two variables:

The first variable stores our list of cakes. The second variable is an empty list that will store all of the strawberry cakes. Next, we’re going to write a loop that checks if each value in “cakes” contains the word “Strawberry”.

If a value contains “Strawberry”, it should be added to our new array. Otherwise, nothing will happen. Once our for loop has executed, the “strawberry” array should be printed to the console. Let’s run our code and see what happens:

As we expected, an error has been raised. Now we get to solve it!

The Solution

Our error message tells us the line of code at which our program fails:

The problem with this code is that we are trying to assign a value inside our “strawberry” list to a position that does not exist.

When we create our strawberry array, it has no values. This means that it has no index numbers. The following values do not exist:

We are trying to assign values to these positions in our for loop. Because these positions contain no values, an error is returned.

We can solve this problem in two ways.

Solution with append()

First, we can add an item to the “strawberry” array using append() :

The append() method adds an item to an array and creates an index position for that item. Let’s run our code: [‘Strawberry Tart’, ‘Strawberry Cheesecake’].

Our code works!

Solution with Initializing an Array

Alternatively, we can initialize our array with some values when we declare it. This will create the index positions at which we can store values inside our “strawberry” array.

To initialize an array, you can use this code:

This will create an array with 10 empty values. Our code now looks like this:

Let’s try to run our code:

Our code successfully returns an array with all the strawberry cakes.

This method is best to use when you know exactly how many values you’re going to store in an array.

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Our above code is somewhat inefficient because we have initialized “strawberry” with 10 empty values. There are only a total of three cakes in our “cakes” array that could possibly contain “Strawberry”. In most cases, using the append() method is both more elegant and more efficient.

IndexErrors are raised when you try to use an item at an index value that does not exist. The “indexerror: list assignment index out of range” is raised when you try to assign an item to an index position that does not exist.

To solve this error, you can use append() to add an item to a list. You can also initialize a list before you start inserting values to avoid this error.

Now you’re ready to start solving the list assignment error like a professional Python developer!

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How to Fix – IndexError list assignment index out of range

The IndexError is a common error that occurs in Python when you try to access an index that is out of range for a list. This error can occur when you try to assign a value to an index that does not exist in the list. In this tutorial, we will discuss how to fix the IndexError list assignment index out of range in Python.

Understanding the Error

Before we dive into the solution, let’s first understand what causes the IndexError list assignment index out of range error. This error occurs when you try to assign a value to an index that does not exist in the list. For example, consider the following code:

In the above code, we are trying to assign the value 4 to the index 3 of the my_list list. However, the my_list list only has three elements, so the index 3 does not exist. This results in the IndexError list assignment index out of range error.

Fixing the Error

To fix the IndexError list assignment index out of range error, you need to make sure that the index you are trying to access or assign a value to exists in the list. You can use an if statement to check if the index exists in the list.

Note that Python sequences also allow negative indexing so be mindful of this when checking if an index exists in a list or not. Let’s look at an example.

Note that if you’re sure that the given index is not negative, you can just check if the index lies in the range 0 to the length of the list using index < len(my_list) .

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If your end goal is to add an element to a list, you can instead use the list append() or insert() functions.

The append() method adds an element to the end of the list, so you don’t have to worry about the index. For example:

Here, we added the element 4 to the end of the list and we didn’t need to provide an index.

If you need to add an element to a specific index in the list, you can use the insert() method. The insert() method takes two arguments: the index where you want to insert the element and the element itself.

In this code, we are using the insert() method to insert the value 4 at the index 3 of the my_list list. Since we are inserting the element at a specific index, the IndexError list assignment index out of range error will be avoided.

The IndexError list assignment index out of range error occurs when you try to assign a value to an index that does not exist in the list. To fix this error, you need to make sure that the index you are trying to access or assign a value to exists in the list. You can do this by checking the length of the list. If you want to add values to a list, you can use the append() method to add elements to the end of the list, or the insert() method to insert elements at a specific index.

You might also be interested in –

• Understand and Fix IndexError in Python
• Python List Append, Extend and Insert

Piyush is a data professional passionate about using data to understand things better and make informed decisions. He has experience working as a Data Scientist in the consulting domain and holds an engineering degree from IIT Roorkee. His hobbies include watching cricket, reading, and working on side projects.

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Comprehensive Guide to Solving IndexError List Assignment Index Out of Range in Python

Dealing with the "IndexError: list assignment index out of range" can be one of the most frustrating parts of working with Python‘s powerful and flexible lists. In this detailed guide, we‘ll dig deep into the causes of index errors and multiple effective strategies to avoid them.

Whether you‘re a beginner looking to understand this common exception or an experienced Pythonista hoping to master list indexing best practices, read on for the definitive guide to solving index out of range errors for good!

What Exactly is an IndexError?

Let‘s start by looking at a simple example that demonstrates how this error occurs:

Attempting to run this code produces the familiar IndexError:

This error means we are trying to access or assign a value at an index that is larger than the length of the list.

In Python, lists are 0-indexed – the first element is at index 0, the second at 1, and so on. For our list of length 3, the last valid index is 2. By trying to assign a value at index 3, we‘ve gone out of range, resulting in the index error.

This error frequently occurs when trying to append to an existing list by directly accessing indexes. Without caution, it‘s easy to go past the end of the intended list.

According to Python‘s bug tracker, IndexError is one of the most common exceptions in Python code. Let‘s explore why these errors occur and how to avoid them.

Why Index Errors Happen

There are two main reasons why the IndexError occurs:

1. Accessing an out of range index

This occurs when trying to access or assign a value at a list index that is greater than or equal to the length of the list:

2. Changing list size while iterating

This can happen when iterating through a list while also appending or removing elements from it:

The append() inside the loop continues extending the list, going past the original indexes.

Understanding these two scenarios is key to avoiding accidental index errors down the line.

Frequency of IndexError

According to data from Python‘s bug tracker on Github, IndexError is one of the most common exceptions in Python code:

It accounts for over 15% of all Python exceptions. This demonstrates how often developers unintentionally go out of bounds with list indexing.

The frequency is even higher for data analysts and scientists working with Python and numerical data structures like matrices and ndarrays. So this is an essential error to know how to handle properly.

Below we dig into several effective ways to solve the problem.

Checking Length with len()

One way to avoid index errors is to check the length of the list before trying to access any indexes.

Python‘s built-in len() function returns the length of a given list:

We can use len() to verify an index is within the valid range before accessing it:

Here we safely check that index 3 is less than the length before attempting assignment. If the test fails, we avoid the error and can print a custom message.

Checking lengths is a simple way to avoid index errors, especially when accepting user input that may contain arbitrary indexes.

Leveraging append() and insert()

Rather than directly accessing indexes, we can use the append() and insert() methods available on Python lists.

append() will add the element to the end of the list:

No need to worry about the index, it takes care of appending for us!

insert() allows specifying the index to insert before:

This allows inserting items at any valid index, rather than relying on manual assignments.

Both append() and insert() protect us from index errors by handling the indexes internally.

Catching the Exception

In situations where we need direct access to indexes, we can handle potential errors using try/except:

This catches the IndexError exception and allows us to print a custom error message instead of the usual ugly stack trace.

Exception handling is useful when accessing indexes in a loop or working with matrices using multiple dimensions. We can elegantly continue execution after catching any out of range errors.

Extending vs Appending for Performance

When adding multiple items to a list, using list.extend() is preferred over repeated append() calls:

extend() iterates over the given iterable, appending each item individually. This is faster than individual append() calls and protects us from potential off-by-one index errors.

Under the hood, extend() actually calls the lower level list.append() method as it loops. But by handling the iteration for us, we avoid mistakes.

Relationship to Key Errors

It‘s worth noting the relationship between IndexError and KeyError – two very common errors.

IndexError refers specifically to invalid indexes on sequences like lists. KeyError refers to invalid keys for dict objects.

For example:

Both indicate an attempt to access missing values in a data structure. The main difference is KeyError applies to dicts rather than sequences.

Best Practices for Avoiding Index Errors

Now that we‘ve explored various solutions, let‘s look at some best practices for avoiding index errors:

• Use len() to validate indexes before accessing
• Prefer append() and insert() over direct access
• Handle exceptions gracefully with try/except
• Know the difference between extend() and append()
• Be careful modifying lists while iterating over them
• Consider reserving list size if known in advance with .append(None)
• Access indexes relatively with negative values (-1 for last)
• Iterate with enumerate() and access indexes safely

Following these guidelines will help you ditch frustrating index errors in Python for good!

Comparison to Indexing in Other Languages

It‘s interesting to compare Python‘s list indexing and errors to other popular languages:

• JavaScript : Allows access past end without errors (undefined returned)
• C++ : Out of range access leads to undefined behavior
• Java : Throws IndexOutOfBoundsException rather than IndexError
• R : Vector and matrix indexes start at 1 rather than 0

So this behavior is unique to Python‘s zero-based indexing approach combined with dynamic types. Knowing how other languages handle indexing differently can help avoid errors when switching between languages.

To recap, the IndexError occurs when trying to access or assign values at a list index that is out of the valid range. By leveraging length checks, append/insert methods, exception handling, and preferred idioms like extend, you can access list elements safely and avoid "index out of range" headaches.

Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of this common exception, you can squash frustrating index errors in your Python code for good!

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How to Fix Python IndexError: list assignment index out of range

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Python IndexError: list assignment index out of range

Fix the indexerror: list assignment index out of range in python, fix indexerror: list assignment index out of range using append() function, fix indexerror: list assignment index out of range using insert() function.

In Python, the IndexError: list assignment index out of range is raised when you try to access an index of a list that doesn’t even exist. An index is the location of values inside an iterable such as a string, list, or array.

In this article, we’ll learn how to fix the Index Error list assignment index out-of-range error in Python.

Let’s see an example of the error to understand and solve it.

Code Example:

The reason behind the IndexError: list assignment index out of range in the above code is that we’re trying to access the value at the index 3 , which is not available in list j .

To fix this error, we need to adjust the indexing of iterables in this case list. Let’s say we have two lists, and you want to replace list a with list b .

You cannot assign values to list b because the length of it is 0 , and you are trying to add values at kth index b[k] = I , so it is raising the Index Error. You can fix it using the append() and insert() .

The append() function adds items (values, strings, objects, etc.) at the end of the list. It is helpful because you don’t have to manage the index headache.

The insert() function can directly insert values to the k'th position in the list. It takes two arguments, insert(index, value) .

In addition to the above two solutions, if you want to treat Python lists like normal arrays in other languages, you can pre-defined your list size with None values.

Once you have defined your list with dummy values None , you can use it accordingly.

There could be a few more manual techniques and logic to handle the IndexError: list assignment index out of range in Python. This article overviews the two common list functions that help us handle the Index Error in Python while replacing two lists.

We have also discussed an alternative solution to pre-defined the list and treat it as an array similar to the arrays of other programming languages.

Zeeshan is a detail oriented software engineer that helps companies and individuals make their lives and easier with software solutions.

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Mastering Python’s List Assignment: Resolving Index Out of Range Errors

Resolve "index out of range" errors

As a Python developer, working with lists is an essential part of your daily coding routine. However, even experienced programmers can stumble upon the dreaded “index out of range” error when dealing with list assignments. This error occurs when you attempt to access or modify an index that doesn’t exist within the list’s bounds. Fear not, as this comprehensive tutorial will equip you with the knowledge and techniques to conquer this challenge and unlock the full potential of Python’s list assignment.

Understanding the “Index Out of Range” Error

Before diving into the solutions, let’s first understand the root cause of the “index out of range” error. In Python, lists are zero-indexed, meaning the first element has an index of 0, the second element has an index of 1, and so on. When you try to access or modify an index that falls outside the list’s valid range, Python raises an IndexError with the “index out of range” message.

Here’s an example that illustrates the error:

In this case, we’re attempting to access the fourth element ( my_list[3] ) of a list that only contains three elements (indices 0, 1, and 2).

Solution 1: Validating Indices Before Assignment

One effective solution to prevent “index out of range” errors is to validate the index before attempting to assign a value to it. You can achieve this by checking if the index falls within the list’s valid range using the len() function and conditional statements.

In this solution, we first declare a list my_list with three elements. We then define two variables: index and new_value .

Next, we use an if statement to check if the index is less than the length of my_list . The len(my_list) function returns the number of elements in the list, which is 3 in this case.

If the condition index < len(my_list) is True, it means that the index is a valid index within the list’s bounds. In this case, we assign the new_value (4) to the element at the specified index (2) using the list assignment my_list[index] = new_value . Finally, we print the updated list, which now has the value 4 at index 2.

However, if the condition index < len(my_list) is False, it means that the index is out of range for the given list. In this case, we execute the else block and print the message “Index out of range!” to inform the user that the provided index is invalid.

This solution is effective when you need to ensure that the index you’re trying to access or modify is within the valid range of the list. By checking the index against the list’s length , you can prevent “index out of range” errors and handle invalid indices appropriately.

It’s important to note that this solution assumes that the index variable is provided or calculated elsewhere in the code. In a real-world scenario, you may need to handle user input or perform additional validation on the index variable to ensure it’s an integer and within the expected range.

Solution 2: Using Python’s List Slicing

Python’s list slicing feature allows you to access and modify a subset of elements within a list. This is a powerful technique that can help you avoid “index out of range” errors when working with list assignments .

In the first example, my_list[:2] = [10, 20] , we’re using list slicing to access and modify the elements from the start of the list up to (but not including) index 2. The slice [:2] represents the range from the beginning of the list to index 2 (0 and 1). We then assign the new values [10, 20] to this slice, effectively replacing the original values at indices 0 and 1 with 10 and 20, respectively.

In the second example, my_list[2:] = [30, 40] , we’re using list slicing to access and modify the elements from index 2 to the end of the list. The slice [2:] represents the range from index 2 to the end of the list. We then assign the new values [30, 40] to this slice. Since the original list only had three elements, Python automatically extends the list by adding a new element at index 3 to accommodate the second value (40).

List slicing is a powerful technique because it allows you to modify multiple elements within a list without worrying about “index out of range” errors. Python automatically handles the indices for you, ensuring that the assignment operation is performed within the valid range of the list.

Here are a few key points about list slicing:

• Inclusive start, exclusive end : The slice [start:end] includes the elements from start up to, but not including, end .
• Omitting start or end : If you omit the start index, Python assumes the beginning of the list. If you omit the end index, Python assumes the end of the list.
• Negative indices : You can use negative indices to start or end the slice from the end of the list. For example, my_list[-1] accesses the last element of the list.
• Step size : You can optionally specify a step size in the slice notation, e.g., my_list[::2] to access every other element of the list.

List slicing is a powerful and Pythonic way to work with lists, and it can help you avoid “index out of range” errors when assigning values to multiple elements within a list.

Solution 3: Using Python’s List Append Method

The append() method in Python is a built-in list method that allows you to add a new element to the end of an existing list. This method is particularly useful when you want to avoid “index out of range” errors that can occur when trying to assign a value to an index that doesn’t exist in the list.

In this example, we start with a list my_list containing three elements: [1, 2, 3] . We then use the append() method to add a new element 4 to the end of the list: my_list.append(4) . Finally, we print the updated list, which now contains four elements: [1, 2, 3, 4] .

Here’s how the append() method works:

• Python finds the current length of the list using len(my_list) .
• It assigns the new value ( 4 in this case) to the index len(my_list) , which is the next available index after the last element in the list.
• Since the new index is always valid (it’s one greater than the last index), there’s no risk of an “index out of range” error.

The append() method is a safe and convenient way to add new elements to the end of a list because it automatically handles the index assignment for you. You don’t need to worry about calculating the correct index or checking if the index is within the list’s bounds.

It’s important to note that the append() method modifies the original list in-place. If you want to create a new list instead of modifying the existing one, you can use the + operator or the list.copy() method to create a copy of the list first, and then append the new element to the copy.

Another advantage of using append() is that it allows you to add multiple elements to the list in a loop or by iterating over another sequence. For example:

In this example, we use a for loop to iterate over the new_elements list, and for each element, we call my_list.append(element) to add it to the end of my_list .

Overall, the append() method is a simple and effective way to add new elements to the end of a list, ensuring that you avoid “index out of range” errors while maintaining the integrity and order of your list.

Solution 4: Handling Exceptions with Try/Except Blocks

Python provides a robust exception handling mechanism using try/except blocks, which can be used to gracefully handle “index out of range” errors and other exceptions that may occur during program execution.

In this example, we first define a list my_list with three elements and an index variable with the value 4 .

The try block contains the code that might raise an exception. In this case, we attempt to access the element at my_list[index] , which is my_list[4] . Since the list only has indices from 0 to 2, this operation will raise an IndexError with the message “list index out of range” .

The except block specifies the type of exception to catch, which is IndexError in this case. If an IndexError is raised within the try block, the code inside the except block will be executed. Here, we print the message “Index out of range! Please provide a valid index.” to inform the user that the provided index is invalid.

If no exception is raised within the try block, the except block is skipped, and the program continues executing the code after the try/except block.

By using try/except blocks, you can handle exceptions gracefully and provide appropriate error messages or take alternative actions, rather than allowing the program to crash with an unhandled exception.

Here are a few key points about using try/except blocks for handling exceptions:

• Multiple except blocks : You can have multiple except blocks to handle different types of exceptions. This allows you to provide specific error handling for each exception type.
• Exception objects : The except block can optionally include a variable to hold the exception object, which can provide additional information about the exception.
• else clause : You can include an else clause after the except blocks. The else block executes if no exceptions are raised in the try block.
• finally clause : The finally clause is executed regardless of whether an exception was raised or not. It’s typically used for cleanup operations, such as closing files or releasing resources.
• Exception hierarchy : Python has a built-in exception hierarchy, where some exceptions are derived from others. You can catch a base exception to handle multiple related exceptions or catch specific exceptions for more granular control.

By using try/except blocks and handling exceptions properly, you can write more robust and resilient code that gracefully handles errors, making it easier to debug and maintain your Python programs.

Best Practices and Coding Standards

To ensure your code is not only functional but also maintainable and scalable, it’s essential to follow best practices and coding standards. Here are some recommendations:

• Validate user input : When working with user-provided indices, always validate the input to ensure it falls within the list’s valid range.
• Use descriptive variable and function names : Choose meaningful names that clearly convey the purpose and functionality of your code elements.
• Write clear and concise comments : Document your code with comments that explain the purpose, logic, and any non-obvious implementation details.
• Follow PEP 8 style guide : Adhere to Python’s official style guide , PEP 8, to ensure consistency and readability across your codebase.
• Test your code thoroughly : Implement unit tests and integrate testing into your development workflow to catch bugs and regressions early.

By following these best practices and coding standards, you’ll not only avoid “index out of range” errors but also produce high-quality, maintainable, and scalable Python code.

Mastering Python’s list assignment is crucial for efficient data manipulation and programming success. By understanding the root cause of “index out of range” errors and implementing the solutions outlined in this tutorial, you’ll be well-equipped to handle these challenges confidently. Whether you validate indices, leverage list slicing, use the append() method, or handle exceptions, you now have a comprehensive toolkit to tackle list assignment challenges head-on. Embrace these techniques, follow best practices, and continue honing your Python skills to unlock new levels of coding excellence.

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[Resolve] IndexError: List Assignment Index Out of Range

When does the IndexError: list assignment index out of range appear?

Python throws an IndexError if you try to assign a value to a list index that doesn’t exist, yet. For example, if you execute the expression list[1] = 10 on an empty list , Python throws the IndexError . Simply resolve it by adding elements to your list until the index actually exists.

Here’s the minimal example that throws the IndexError:

If you run this code, you’ll see that Python throws an IndexError :

You can resolve it by adding two “dummy” elements to the list so that the index 1 actually exists in the list:

Now, Python will print the expected output:

Try to fix the IndexError in the following interactive code shell:

Exercise : Can you fix this code?

So what are some other occurrences of the IndexError?

IndexError in For Loop

Frequently, the IndexError happens if you use a for loop to modify some list elements like here:

Again, the result is an IndexError :

You modify a list element at index i that doesn’t exist in the list. Instead, create the list using the list(range(10)) list constructor.

Where to Go From Here?

You’ve learned how to resolve one error. By doing this, your Python skills have improved a little bit. Do this every day and soon, you’ll be a skilled master coder.

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If the answer is yes, let me show you a simple way how you can create your simple, home-based coding business online:

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How to fix an IndexError in Python

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If you use Python, you may have encountered the IndexError error in response to some code you've written. The IndexError message in Python is a runtime error. To understand what it is and how to fix it, you must first understand what an index is. A Python list (or array or dictionary ) has an index. The index of an item is its position within a list. To access an item in a list, you use its index. For instance, consider this Python list of fruits:

This list's range is 5, because an index in Python starts at 0.

• watermelon: 5

Suppose you need to print the fruit name pear from this list. You can use a simple print statement, along with the list name and the index of the item you want to print:

What causes an IndexError in Python?

What if you use an index number outside the range of the list? For example, try to print the index number 6 (which doesn't exist):

As expected, you get IndexError: list index out of range in response.

How to fix IndexError in Python

The only solution to fix the IndexError: list index out of range error is to ensure that the item you access from a list is within the range of the list. You can accomplish this by using the range() an len() functions.

The range() function outputs sequential numbers, starting with 0 by default, and stopping at the number before the specified value:

The len() function, in the context of a list, returns the number of items in the list:

List index out of range

By using range() and len() together, you can prevent index errors. The len() function returns the length of the list (6, in this example.) Using that length with range() becomes range(6) , which returns items at index 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Fix IndexError in Python loops

If you're not careful, index errors can happen in Python loops. Consider this loop:

The logic seems reasonable. You've defined n as a counter variable, and you've set the loop to occur until it equals the length of the list. The length of the list is 6, but its range is 5 (because Python starts its index at 0). The condition of the loop is n <= 6 , and so the while loop stops when the value of n is equal to 6:

• When n is 0 => apple
• When n is 1 => banana
• When n is 2 => orange
• When n is 3 => pear
• When n is 4 => grapes
• When n is 5 => watermelon
• When n is 6 => IndexError: list index out of range

When n is equal to 6, Python produces an IndexError: list index out of range error.

To avoid this error within Python loops, use only the < ("less than") operator, stopping the while loop at the last index of the list. This is one number short of the list's length:

There's another way to fix, this too, but I leave that to you to discover.

No more Python index errors

The ultimate cause of IndexError is an attempt to access an item that doesn't exist within a data structure. Using the range() and len() functions is one solution, and of course keep in mind that Python starts counting at 0, not 1.

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How to solve indexerror: list assignment index out of range

In this article, you will learn how to solve  indexerror: list assignment index out of range  Python error.

Let’s look at a code example that produces the same error.

In order to solve indexerror: list assignment index out of range Python error you need to  use  append()  to add an item to a list. consider the code example below:

This guide is part of the “ Common Python Errors ” series. It’s focused entirely on providing quick and easy solutions for Python-related problems.

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Deven is an Entrepreneur, and Full-stack developer, Constantly learning and experiencing new things. He currently runs CodeSource.io and Dunebook.com

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Python에서 List Index Out of Range 오류 메세지 해결하기

Original article: List Index Out of Range – Python Error Message Solved

이 기사에서는 Python에서 리스트 인덱스가 범위를 벗어났다는 의미의 Indexerror: list index out of range 오류가 발생하는 몇 가지 이유에 대해 살펴보겠습니다.

오류가 발생하는 이유에 대해 알아본 후 이 오류를 방지하는 몇 가지 방법도 배워보겠습니다.

Python 리스트 생성하기

Python에서 리스트 객체를 생성하려면 다음을 실행해야 합니다.

• 리스트 객체의 이름을 지정하고,
• 할당 연산자인 = 를 사용하고,
• 대괄호 [] 안에 0개 이상의 리스트 항목을 포함합니다. 각 리스트 항목은 쉼표로 구분해야 합니다.

예를 들어, 이름 목록을 작성하려면 다음과 같은 코드를 실행합니다.

위의 코드는 Kelly, Nelly, Jimmy, Lenny 의 네 가지 값을 가진 names 라는 리스트를 생성합니다.

Python 리스트 길이 확인하기

리스트의 길이를 확인하려면 Python의 내장 함수 len() 를 사용하면 됩니다.

len() 은 리스트에 저장된 항목의 수인 정수를 반환합니다.

리스트에 저장된 항목이 4개이므로 리스트의 길이 또한 4입니다.

Python 리스트의 개별 항목에 접근하는 방법

리스트의 각 항목은 고유한 인덱스 번호(index number) 가 있습니다.

Python 및 대부분의 현대 프로그래밍 언어에서는 인덱싱이 0부터 시작합니다.

즉, 리스트의 첫 번째 항목은 0, 두 번째 항목은 1의 인덱스를 갖습니다.

인덱스를 활용해 개별 항목에 접근할 수 있습니다.

그러려면 먼저 리스트 이름을 작성합니다. 그런 다음 대괄호 안에 항목의 인덱스에 해당하는 정수를 포함합니다.

이전 예시의 경우 인덱스를 사용해 리스트 내의 각 항목에 접근하는 방법은 다음과 같습니다.

음수 인덱스(negative index)를 사용해 Python 리스트 내 항목에 접근할 수도 있습니다.

마지막 항목에 접근하려면 인덱스 값 -1을 사용하면 됩니다. 마지막에서 두 번째 항목에 접근하려면 인덱스 값 -2를 사용합니다.

다음 코드 블록은 음수 인덱스를 사용해 리스트 내의 각 항목에 접근하는 방법입니다.

Indexerror: list index out of range error 오류가 발생하는 이유

첫 번째 원인: 리스트 범위를 벗어나는 인덱스 사용.

리스트의 인덱스 범위를 벗어난, 존재하지 않는 값을 사용해 항목에 접근하려고 하면 Index error: list index out of range 오류가 발생합니다.

이 오류는 리스트의 마지막 항목에 접근하거나 음수 인덱스를 사용해 첫 번째 항목에 접근할 때 흔히 발생합니다.

예시를 다시 살펴봅시다.

리스트의 마지막 항목인 Lenny 에 접근하려고 다음과 같은 코드를 실행했다고 가정해봅시다.

일반적으로 리스트의 인덱스 범위는 0에서 n-1 이며, 여기서 n 은 리스트의 총 항목 수입니다.

예시의 names 리스트는 총 항목 수가 4 이고 인덱스 범위는 0에서 3 입니다.

이제 음수 인덱스로 리스트 항목을 접근해봅시다.

음수 인덱스를 사용해 첫 번째 항목인 Kelly 에 접근한다고 가정해볼까요?

음수 인덱스를 사용할 경우 리스트의 인덱스 범위는 -1에서 -n 입니다. 여기서 -n 은 리스트에 포함된 총 항목 수입니다.

리스트의 총 항목 수가 4 라면, 인덱스 범위는 -1에서-4 입니다.

두 번째 원인: for 문에서 range() 함수에 잘못된 값 전달

리스트를 순회할 때 존재하지 않는 항목에 접근하려고 하면 Indexerror: list index out of range 오류가 발생합니다.

이런 오류가 발생하는 흔한 경우 중 하나는 Python의 range() 함수에서 잘못된 정수를 사용했을 때입니다.

range() 함수에는 일반적으로 카운트가 종료하는 위치(종료값이라고도 불립니다 --옮긴이)를 나타내는 정수 하나가 전달됩니다.

예를 들어 range(5) 는 카운트가 0 에서 시작해 4 에서 종료됨을 나타냅니다.

다시 말해 카운트는 기본적으로 0 에서 시작되고 전달된 종료값에서 1을 뺀 값까지 매번 1 씩 증가합니다. range() 함수에 인자로 전달된 종료값은 카운트에 포함되지 않는다는 점을 꼭 명심하세요.

예시를 확인해봅시다.

names 리스트에는 네 가지 값이 있습니다.

이 리스트를 순회하고 각 항목의 값을 출력하고 싶다는 가정해보겠습니다.

range(5) 를 사용할 때 Python 인터프리터에게 0에서 4까지 에 위치한 값을 출력하라는 지시를 전하는 의미입니다.

그러나 4 위치에는 항목이 없습니다.

위치 번호를 출력한 후 해당 위치의 값을 출력해보면 이 사실을 확인할 수 있습니다.

range(5) 는 0에서 4까지 의 위치를 나타냅니다. 0 위치에는 "Kelly", 1 위치에는 "Nelly", 2 위치에는 "Jimmy", 그리고 3 위치에는 "Lenny"라는 값이 있다는 것을 확인할 수 있습니다.

4 위치의 경우 출력할 값이 없으므로 인터프리터가 오류를 발생시킵니다.

이 오류를 해결하는 한 가지 방법은 range() 에 전달된 정수를 낮추는 것입니다.

for 문을 사용할 때 이 오류를 해결하는 또 다른 방법은 리스트의 길이를 range() 함수에 인수로 전달하는 것입니다. 이전 섹션에서 설명한 것처럼 내장 함수 len() 를 사용하면 됩니다.

len() 을 range() 에 인수로 전달할 때 다음과 같은 실수를 조심하세요.

이런 코드를 실행하면 IndexError: list index out of range 오류가 다시 발생합니다.

이제 IndexError: list index out of range 오류가 발생하는 이유와 이를 방지할 수 있는 몇 가지 방법에 대해 이해가 잘 되셨나요?

Python에 대해 더 배워보고 싶다면 freeCodeCamp의 Python 수료증 과정 을 확인해보세요. 수료증 강의를 통해 초보자여도 Python을 재미있고 유익하게 배우면서 5개의 프로젝트를 해보며 배운 것을 열심히 실습할 수 있을 거에요.

읽어주셔서 감사합니다. Happy coding!

She/her | Software Engineer @ 100Devs | i read, i learn languages, i solve problems | 개발과 n개국어를 하는 사람 | ✝️🏳️‍🌈🐕

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Why can't I build a list by assigning each element in turn? How can I add (append) the elements without getting an IndexError?

I tried writing some code like:

But I get an error message that says IndexError: list assignment index out of range , referring to the j[k] = l line of code. Why does this occur? How can I fix it?

• 10 append is the right solution for your use case, however there's an insert method on python list which can insert directly to the i'th position in list. j.insert(k, l) –  opensourcegeek Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 8:46
• May I ask, why would not OP's solution work? Why use append? –  Helen Commented Jun 10, 2018 at 16:01

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged python list exception or ask your own question .

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