What does [:] mean?

Question

I\'m analyzing some Python code and I don\'t know what

pop = population[:]

means. Is it something like array lists in Java or like a bi-di

Answer 1

It is an example of slice notation, and what it does depends on the type of population. If population is a list, this line will create a shallow copy of the list. For an object of type tuple or a str, it will do nothing (the line will do the same without [:]), and for a (say) NumPy array, it will create a new view to the same data.