Question

What will the following code display? numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] my_list = numbers[:1] print(my_list)

Short answer

```python numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] my_list = numbers[:1] print(my_list) ``` Answer: The code will display `[1]` when executed.

Step-by-step solution

Analyze the Python code

We have a Python code snippet that involves a list of numbers (integers) and creates a new list using slicing. The main concepts to understand are lists and slicing in Python.

Break down each line of the code

Let's break down the code to understand each line's purpose: 1. `numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]`: Here, a list called `numbers` is defined, which contains five integers from 1 to 5. 2. `my_list = numbers[:1]`: A new list called 'my_list' is created using slicing, which is a technique used to extract elements from a list. 3. `print(my_list)`: The content of the 'my_list' is displayed using the 'print' function.

Understand Python list slicing

In Python, a list can be sliced using the slice notation `list[start:stop:step]`. Using slicing, a new list is created extracting elements from the original list based on the given parameters: - start (optional): This is the starting index of the slice. If omitted, it is assumed to be 0. - stop (required): This is the stopping index of the slice. The slice will stop right before this index. - step (optional): This is the step between each element in the slice. If omitted, it is assumed to be 1.

Understanding the slicing in this code

In this code, the slicing is written as `numbers[:1]`. This means that the `start` index is omitted (0 by default), the `stop` index is 1, and the `step` is omitted (1 by default). So the slicing will extract elements from the `numbers` list starting at index 0 and stopping right before index 1, taking a step of 1.

Determine the output of the code

The slicing `numbers[:1]` will create a new list, `my_list`, with only the elements from index 0 to right before index 1 of the `numbers` list. In this case, it will take only the first element of the `numbers` list, which is 1. So, `my_list` will be `[1]`. Now that we know what `my_list` contains, the output of the code when the `print(my_list)` function is executed will be: ``` [1] ``` This will be what the code displays.