---
title: "Indexing and slicing"
space: "Student Handbook"
url: "https://portal.cs17.org/student-handbook/python-manual/lists/indexing-and-slicing"
updated: "2026-10-05"
---

Gets one item, or a range of items, from a string or list by position.

## Synopsis

```python
items[index]
items[-1]
items[start:stop]
items[index] = value
```

## Description

Positions start at **0**. A negative index counts from the end: `-1` is the last item.

A slice `[start:stop]` takes the items from `start` up to, but not including, `stop`. Leave either out to go to the end.

You can change a list item with `=`, but not a character in a string.

## Parameters

| Name | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `index` | A position, from `0` to `len(items) - 1`, or negative from the end. |
| `start, stop` | Where a slice begins and the position it stops before. |

## Return value

One item, or a new string or list for a slice.

## Example

```python
word = "python"
print(word[0])
print(word[-1])
print(word[0:3])
print(word[2:])
nums = [10, 20, 30]
nums[1] = 25
print(nums)
```

It prints:

```text
p
n
pyt
thon
[10, 25, 30]
```

## Common mistake

```python
word = "python"
print(word[6])
```

Python stops with:

```text
IndexError: string index out of range
```

"python" has 6 letters at positions 0 to 5. The last one is `word[5]`, or `word[-1]`.

## See also

[len](/student-handbook/python-manual/built-in-functions/len), [range](/student-handbook/python-manual/built-in-functions/range), [list.pop](/student-handbook/python-manual/lists/pop)

[Indexing and slicing in the Python documentation](https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#common-sequence-operations)