Get the Last Element of a List in Python

In this article, we will show you how to get the last element of the input list using python. Now we see 4 methods to accomplish this task ?

• Using negative indexing

• Using slicing

• Using pop() method

• Using For loop

Assume we have taken a list containing some elements. We will return the last element of the given input list using different methods as specified above.

Method 1: Using negative indexing

Python allows for "indexing from the end," i.e., negative indexing.

This means that the last value in a sequence has an index of ?1, the second last has an index of ?2, and so on.

When you want to pick values from the end (right side) of an iterable, you can utilize negative indexing to your benefit

Syntax

list[len ? 1]: By definition, points to the last element.
list[?1]: Negative indexing starting from the end

Algorithm (Steps)

Following are the Algorithm/steps to be followed to perform the desired task ?

• Create a variable to store the input list

• Get the last element of the list using the "length of list - 1" as an index and print the resultant last element of the list.

• Get the last element of the list using ? 1(negative indexing) as the index and print the resultant last element of the list.

Example

The following program returns the last element of the input list using negative indexing ?

# input list
inputList = [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]

# printing input list
print("Input list:", inputList)

# getting the last element of the list using the length of the list - 1 as an index(Here list index starts from 0 so list length -1 gives the index of the last element of the list)
print("Last element of the input list using len(list)-1 as index = ", inputList[len(inputList) - 1])

# getting the last element of the list using - 1 as the index
print("Last element of the input list using -1 as index = ", inputList[-1])

Output

On executing, the above program will generate the following output ?

Input list: [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]
Last element of the input list using len(list)-1 as index = 3
Last element of the input list using -1 as index = 3  

Method 2: Using slicing

List slicing is a frequent practice in Python, and it is the most commonly utilized way for programmers to solve efficient problems. Consider a Python list. To access a range of elements in a list, you must slice it. One method is to utilize the simple slicing operator, i.e. colon (:)

With this operator, one can define where to begin slicing, where to end slicing and the step. List slicing creates a new list from an old one.

Syntax

List[ start : end : step]

Parameters

start- index from where to start

end - ending index

step - numbers of jumps to take in between i.e stepsize

Algorithm (Steps)

Following are the Algorithm/steps to be followed to perform the desired task ?

• Get the last element of the input list using slicing and create a variable to store it.

inputList[-1:][0] represents getting the first element by slicing it from the end of the list   

• Print the last element of the input list.

Example

The following program returns the last element of the input list using slicing ?

# input list
inputList = [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]

# printing input list
print("Input list:", inputList)

# getting the last element of the list using slicing
lastElement = inputList[-1:][0]

# printing the last element of the list
print("Last element of the input list = ", lastElement)

Output

Input list: [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]
Last element of the input list = 3

Method 3: Using pop() method

Algorithm (Steps)

Following are the Algorithm/steps to be followed to perform the desired task ?

• Give the input list

• Using the pop() function (removes the last element from a list and returns it), for getting the last element of the list

• print the resultant last element of the list.

Example

The following program returns the last element of the input list using the pop() function ?

# input list
inputList = [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]

# printing input list
print("Input list:", inputList)

# getting the last element of the list using pop() method
print("Last element of the input list = ", inputList.pop())

Output

Input list: [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]
Last element of the input list = 3

Method 4: Using For loop

Algorithm (Steps)

Following are the Algorithm/steps to be followed to perform the desired task ?

• Use the for loop, to traverse till the length of the list using the len() function (The number of items in an object is returned by the len() method)

• Use the if conditional statement, to check whether the iterator value is equal to the length of the list -1.

• Print the corresponding element of the list, if the condition is true.

Example

The following program returns the last element of the input list using the for loop ?

# input list
inputList = [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]

# printing input list
print("Input list:", inputList)

# Traversing till the length of the list
for k in range(0, len(inputList)):

   # Checking whether the iterator value is equal to the length of list -1(last element)
   # Here == is used to check whether the iterator value is equal to list length-1
   if k == (len(inputList)-1):

      # Printing the corresponding element of the list,
      # if the condition is true
      print("Last element of the input list = ", inputList[k])

Output

Input list: [5, 1, 6, 8, 3]
Last element of the input list = 3

Conclusion

We learned how to get the last element of a list using four different methods in this article: negative indexing, pop() function, negative indexing, and looping. We also learned how to use the pop() function to remove the last element from a list.