Understanding Python list.pop() Method with Examples

Python's list pop() is a built‑in function that removes an item at a specified index from a list and returns the removed item; if no index is provided, it removes and returns the last element.

Basic syntax: list.pop(index) where index is optional. If omitted, -1 is used. If the index is out of range, an IndexError is raised.

The method returns the element that was removed.

Example 1 demonstrates removing the element at index 4 (the fifth item) from a list of laptop brands and printing the removed item and the updated list.

<code>laptops = ["Dell","Lenovo","HP","Apple","Acer","Asus"]
item_removed = laptops.pop(4)
print("The item removed is ", item_removed)
print("The updated list is ", laptops)</code>

Output:

<code>The item removed is Acer
The updated list is ['Dell', 'Lenovo', 'HP', 'Apple', 'Asus']</code>

Example 2 shows using pop() without an index (defaulting to the last element) and with negative indices to remove elements from the end of the list.

<code>laptops = ["Dell","Lenovo","HP","Apple","Acer","Asus"]
item_removed = laptops.pop()
print("The item removed is ", item_removed)
print("The updated list is ", laptops)

item_removed = laptops.pop(-1)
print("The item removed is ", item_removed)
print("The updated list is ", laptops)

item_removed = laptops.pop(-3)
print("The item removed is ", item_removed)
print("The updated list is ", laptops)</code>

Corresponding output shows the removed items and the lists after each operation.

In addition to pop(), Python also provides remove() and the del statement for deleting items or slices from a list.