List assignment with [:]

Question

What\'s the difference between

list = range(100)

and

list[:] = range(100)

in Python?

EDI

Answer 1

[:] is also useful to make a deep copy of the list.

def x(l):
    f=l[:]
    g=l
    l.append(8)
    print "l", l
    print "g", g
    print "f", f

l = range(3)

print l
 #[0, 1, 2]

x(l)
 #l [0, 1, 2, 8]
 #g [0, 1, 2, 8]
 #f [0, 1, 2]

print l
#[0, 1, 2, 8]

Modification to l is get reflected in g (because, both point to same list, in fact, both g and l are just names in python), not in f(because, it's a copy of l)

But, in your case, It doesn't make any difference. (Though, I'm not eligible to comment on any memory usage of both methods.)

Edit

h = range(3)
id(h) #141312204 
h[:]=range(3)
id(h) #141312204 
h=range(3)
id(h) #141312588 

list[:] = range(100) updates the list list = range(100) creates new list.

@agf: thanks for pointing my error