Lists
A list is a special type of variable. Normally, a variable can only hold a single value, but a list can hold many values.
This is an example of a list...
a = ["cat", "dog", "monkey", "elephant"]
print(a[2])
a = ["cat", "dog", "monkey", "elephant"] : Set the values for a list. It needs to start and end with the square brackets [], and each item is separated by a comma ,.
print(a[2]) : Prints the value of index 2 in the list. The index starts from zero, so index 2 is actually the third item.
Try
Can you modify the program to output cat instead?
Using a variable as index
Lists are most useful when you use a variable for the index. Here's an example...
animals = ["cat", "dog", "monkey", "elephant"]
choice = input("Choose a number from 0 to 3")
choice = int(choice)
print("Your favourite animal is a " + animals[choice])
Random
We can generate a random number using the random module. Combine that with the use of a variable as the index allows us to choose a random item from a list.
import random
style = ["fried", "baked", "steamed"]
food = ["chicken", "fish", "ice cream", "tofu"]
choice1 = random.randrange(3)
choice2 = random.randrange(4)
print("We are having " + style[choice1] + " " + food[choice2] + " for dinner.")