Python Program to Clone or Copy a List

Write a Python program to perform cloning or copy one list to another. In this language, we can use the list function to clone or copy.

orgList = [10, 20, 40, 60, 70]
print("Original List Items    = ", orgList)
print("Original List Datatype = ", type(orgList))

newList = list(orgList)
print("New List Items    = ", newList)
print("New List Datatype = ", type(newList))
Python Program to Clone or Copy a List 1

Python Program to Clone or Copy a List

In this example, we slice the list without the start and stop values, which eventually return the total items.

orgList = [40, 60, 80, 100, 120]
print("Original Items = ", orgList)

newList = orgList[:]
print("New Items      = ", newList)
Original Items =  [40, 60, 80, 100, 120]
New Items      =  [40, 60, 80, 100, 120]

In this Program, we used the extend function to copy the list to another.

orgList = [22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99]
print("Original Items = ", orgList)

newList = []
newList.extend(orgList)
print("New Items      = ", newList)
Original Items =  [22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99]
New Items      =  [22, 33, 44, 55, 66, 77, 88, 99]

This Python program uses list comprehension to clone our copy of the items.

orgList = [12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78]
print("Original Items = ", orgList)

newList = [lVal for lVal in orgList]
print("New Items      = ", newList)

copy using list comprehension output

Original Items =  [12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78]
New Items      =  [12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78]

Python Program to Clone or Copy a List using for loop

We used the for loop (for lVal in orgList) and for loop range (for i in range(len(orgList))) to iterate the list items. Within the loops, the append function adds or appends each list item to the new list.

orgList = [25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85]
print("Original Items = ", orgList)

newList = []

for lVal in orgList:
    newList.append(lVal)
print("New Items      = ", newList)

newList2 = []

for i in range(len(orgList)):
    newList2.append(orgList[i])
print("New Items      = ", newList2)
Original Items =  [25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85]
New Items      =  [25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85]
New Items      =  [25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85]

There is a built-in list copy function to copy or clone the list items.

orgList = [24, 44, 54, 64, 76, 85]
print("Original Items = ", orgList)

newList = orgList.copy()
print("New Items      = ", newList)
Original Items =  [24, 44, 54, 64, 76, 85]
New Items      =  [24, 44, 54, 64, 76, 85]

About Suresh

Suresh is the founder of TutorialGateway and a freelance software developer. He specialized in Designing and Developing Windows and Web applications. The experience he gained in Programming and BI integration, and reporting tools translates into this blog. You can find him on Facebook or Twitter.