slice() Builtin Function

Python slice()

Python slice() builtin function is used to create a slice object. The slice object can be used to extract a slice of an iterable like list, tuple, string, etc.

Syntax

The syntax of slice() function is

slice(stop)
slice(start, stop, step=1)

where

  • start is the starting index.
  • stop is the ending index.
  • step [optional] is the step value which defines the difference between adjacent indices in the slice object.

Examples

1. Slice a list

In the following program, we take a list object in variable x, and slice it in the index range [2, 5) using using slice() function.

Python Program

x = [2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20]

x_slice = slice(2, 7)

output = x[x_slice]
print(output)
Run

Output

[6, 8, 10, 12, 14]

2. Slice a string

Now, we take a string, and find the substring of this string, using slice() function.

Python Program

x = 'abcdefghijklmnopq'

x_slice = slice(2, 7)

output = x[x_slice]
print(output)
Run

Output

cdefg

Summary

In this tutorial of Python Examples, we learned the syntax of slice() builtin function, and how to use slice() function to get the slice of an iterable, with examples.