Add Elements of Two Lists in Python (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 10 Dec, 2024

Adding corresponding elements of two lists can be useful in various situations such as processing sensor data, combining multiple sets of results, or performing element-wise operations in scientific computing. List Comprehension allows us to perform the addition in one line of code. It provides us a way to write for loop in a list.

Python `

Input lists

a = [1, 3, 4, 6, 8] b = [4, 5, 6, 2, 10]

Add corresponding elements using list comprehension

c = [a[i] + b[i] for i in range(len(a))]

Print the result

print(c)

`

**Other methods that we can use to add elements of two lists in python are:

Table of Content

**Using zip() Function

zip() function zip() combines two or more iterables element by element that makes it easy to iterate over corresponding elements. It returns a tuple, which we can sum.

Python `

Input lists

a = [1, 3, 4, 6, 8] b = [4, 5, 6, 2, 10]

Add corresponding elements using zip() and list comprehension

c = [x + y for x, y in zip(a, b)]

Print the result

print(c)

`

Using map() Function

map() function applies a given function to each item of an iterable (like a list) and returns a map object. We can use this to add corresponding elements of two lists.

Python `

Input lists

a = [1, 3, 4, 6, 8] b = [4, 5, 6, 2, 10]

Use map to add corresponding elements of both lists

c = list(map(lambda x, y: x + y, a, b))

Print the result

print(c)

`

Using numpy Library

If we need to handle large lists or perform more complex operations, the numpy library can be helpful. It provides a fast way to perform element-wise operations on arrays.

Python `

Import numpy library

import numpy as np

Input lists

a = [1, 3, 4, 6, 8] b = [4, 5, 6, 2, 10]

Convert lists to numpy arrays and add them

c = np.add(a, b)

Print the result

print(c)

`

Using a Simple for Loop

The most basic way to add corresponding elements is by using a simple for loop. This method is easy to understand for beginners.

Python `

Input lists

a = [1, 3, 4, 6, 8] b = [4, 5, 6, 2, 10]

Create an empty list to store the result

c = []

Loop through both lists and add corresponding elements

for i in range(len(a)): c.append(a[i] + b[i])

Print the result

print(c)

`

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