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Python Python Collections (2016, retired 2019) Lists Disemvowel

Chelsea Yang
Chelsea Yang
2,982 Points
Posted by Chelsea Yang
Chelsea Yang
2,982 Points

Why [word] doesn't work while list(word) does, and why str(list) doesn't work while ''.join(list) works

Hello community, when I'm doing the Disemvowel challenge, I tried to convert string into list, I found L = [word] is not giving the output as I want, but L = list(word) does. Same confusion for trying to convert list back to string, str(L) not working but ''.join(L) works. I saw many people use [word] and str(L) online but not clear why it doesn't work here, can anyone help? Thank you!

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

These do different things. Placing braces around a string variable creates a list with that string as a single item, but using the "list" function converts it into a list where each letter is a separate item:

So if word = "test", then "[word]" is "['test']", but "list(word)" is "['t', 'e', 's', 't']"

Then, creating a string from a list with "str" gives you one that shows each list part, but using "join" puts it back together:

So if "test = ['t', 'e', 's', 't']", then "str(test)" is "['t', 'e', 's', 't']", but """.join(test)" is just "test"

Chelsea Yang
Chelsea Yang
2,982 Points
Chelsea Yang
Chelsea Yang
2,982 Points

Thank you for the detailed explanation Steven!