How To Add Elements To An Empty Array In Python

In this tutorial, we will learn how to add elements to an empty array in Python. Arrays are used to store multiple elements of the same data type, such as a list of integers or a list of strings. They are useful for organizing and accessing data efficiently. In Python, we can use the built-in list data type to create and manipulate arrays.

Step 1: Create an empty array

First, let’s create an empty array using the list() constructor. The constructor creates a new empty list without any elements. You can also create an empty list using square brackets [].

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# Creating an empty array using list() constructor
my_array = list()
 
# Creating an empty array using square brackets
my_array = []

Step 2: Add elements to the array

To add elements to an empty array, we can use the append() method. The append() method adds a single element to the end of the list.

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# Adding elements using the append() method
my_array.append(4)
my_array.append(7)
my_array.append(12)

Now, the contents of my_array will be [4, 7, 12].

Step 3: Add multiple elements using extend()

If you want to add multiple elements at once to the array, you can use the extend() method. The extend() method takes an iterable as an argument (e.g., list, tuple, or string) and adds each element to the end of the list.

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# Adding multiple elements using the extend() method
new_elements = [16, 23, 29]
my_array.extend(new_elements)

Now, the contents of my_array will be [4, 7, 12, 16, 23, 29].

Step 4: Insert elements at a specific position

If you want to insert an element at a specific position in the array, you can use the insert() method. The insert() method takes two arguments: the index at which the new element should be inserted and the element itself.

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# Inserting an element at a specific position
my_array.insert(2, 9999)

Now, the contents of my_array will be [4, 7, 9999, 12, 16, 23, 29].

The Full Code

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# Creating an empty array using square brackets
my_array = []
 
# Adding elements using the append() method
my_array.append(4)
my_array.append(7)
my_array.append(12)
 
# Adding multiple elements using the extend() method
new_elements = [16, 23, 29]
my_array.extend(new_elements)
 
# Inserting an element at a specific position
my_array.insert(2, 9999)
print(my_array)

Output

[4, 7, 9999, 12, 16, 23, 29]

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we learned how to add elements to an empty array in Python. We discussed different methods to add elements, such as using the append(), extend(), and insert() methods. These methods allow us to create and manipulate dynamic arrays with ease, making them an essential tool for working with data in Python.