Copy Scalars and Lists in Python

Python allows copying values of a scalar:

a = 42
b = a
print(b)
# 42

a = 43
print(a)
# 43
print(b)
# 42

However, the same operator = doesn’t do the same for lists:

a = [1,2,3]
b = a
print(b)
# [1,2,3]

a[1] = 0
print(a)
# [1,0,3]
print(b)
# [1,0,3]

The reason is quite easy to guess. The variable a and b for lists are pointers since it is much easier to hold the starting address of the lists and length instead of all the values.

In the case of a copy of a list is really needed, we can use slicing:

a = [1,2,3]
b = a[:]

Through this slicing, b is a copy of a and all changes of a have no effect on b.