3 Important “vs.” Among Python Functions and Methods

Similar yet very different tools, explained

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Python’s built-in functions and methods make it a highly versatile programming language that allows for short development times.

Amongst the rich selection of functions and methods, there are some similar ones in terms of what they do. But, of course, they’re not the same. What makes them different might have serious consequences if not used properly.

In this article, we’ll learn 3 pairs of similar yet very different Python functions.

1. Append vs Extend

Both append and extend can be used for adding new items to a Python list.

• append adds a single item to a list
• extend adds the items in the given collection to a list

Here is an example:

# create a list
mylist = ["John", "Jane", "Emily"]

# add an item
mylist.append("Max")

# check the list
print(mylist)
['John', 'Jane', 'Emily', 'Max']

The append method added the string “Max” to mylist as a new item. Let’s see what happens if we do the same operation using the extend method.

# extend the list with Max
mylist.extend("Max")

# check the list
print(mylist)
['John'…