The first, [:], is creating a slice (normally often used for getting just part of a list), which happens to contain the entire list, and thus is effectively a copy of the list. The second, list(), is using the actual list type constructor to create a new list which has contents equal to the first list. By using a : colon in the list index, you are asking for a slice, which is always another list.

Understanding the Context

In Python you can assign values to both an individual item in a list, and to a slice of the list. What is the difference between list [1] and list [1:] in Python? I have a piece of code here that is supposed to return the least common element in a list of elements, ordered by commonality: def getSingle(arr): from collections import Counter c = Counte... When reading, list is a reference to the original list, and list[:] shallow-copies the list.

Key Insights

When assigning, list (re)binds the name and list[:] slice-assigns, replacing what was previously in the list. Also, don't use list as a name since it shadows the built-in. The first way works for a list or a string; the second way only works for a list, because slice assignment isn't allowed for strings. Other than that I think the only difference is speed: it looks like it's a little faster the first way. Try it yourself with timeit.timeit () or preferably timeit.repeat ().

Final Thoughts

I'm working on a Power Automate flow that updates items in a SharePoint Online list. However, I'm facing an issue where certain columns (including Person/Group fields) are not appearing in the "Update item" action. Power Automate – Some SharePoint List Columns Not Appearing in "Update ...