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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-04T07:02:35+00:00

Python docs says that slicing a list returns a new list. Now if a

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Python docs says that slicing a list returns a new list.
Now if a "new" list is being returned I’ve the following questions related to "Assignment to slices"

a = [1, 2, 3]
a[0:2] = [4, 5]
print a

Now the output would be:

[4, 5, 3]
  1. How can something that is returning something come on the left side of expression?
  2. Yes, I read the docs and it says it is possible, now since slicing a list returns a "new" list, why is the original list being modified? I am not able to understand the mechanics behind it.
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    You are confusing two distinct operation that use very similar syntax:

    1) slicing:

    b = a[0:2]

    This makes a copy of the slice of a and assigns it to b.

    2) slice assignment:

    a[0:2] = b

    This replaces the slice of a with the contents of b.

    Although the syntax is similar (I imagine by design!), these are two different operations.

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