Use of slice(x,y) function in python

Question

What exactly does the following code do?

     slice(x,y)

x,y are integers and it is being called on an object i.e.

     def view(self):
        return slice(self.x,self.y)

I am unfamiliar with Python libraries and haven't been able to find it explained clearly anywhere.

Simeon Visser · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-11 11:15:33Z

4

It's all documented here and here. The function returns a slice object which can be used to slice, e.g., a list. For example:

>>> my_slice = slice(0, 1)
>>> my_list = [1, 2, 3]
>>> my_list[my_slice]
[1]

This allows you to programmatically slice a list, instead of writing my_list[0:1].

answered Dec 11, 2013 at 11:15

Simeon Visser

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