The List reverse() method reverses the order of elements in the list in place.
Syntax
my_list.reverse()reverse() Parameters
Python List reverse() method does not take any parameters.
reverse() Return Value
Python List reverse() method does not return any value: it updates the existing list.
Examples
Example 1: Reverse a list with reverse() method
The reverse() method can be used with lists that contain data of any type.
For example, reverse a list of numbers:
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
numbers.reverse()
print(numbers) # Output: [5, 4, 3, 2, 1]output
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]Or reverse a list of strings:
names = ['Tom', 'Anna', 'David', 'Ryan']
names.reverse()
print(names) # Output: ['Ryan', 'David', 'Anna', 'Tom']output
['Ryan', 'David', 'Anna', 'Tom']Example 2: Reversing a List of Mixed Data Types
The reverse() method can reverse a list containing mixed data types too!
my_list = [1, 'Anna', 2, 'David', 3, 'Tom']
my_list.reverse()
print(my_list) # Output: ['Tom', 3, 'David', 2, 'Anna', 1]output
['Tom', 3, 'David', 2, 'Anna', 1]reverse() method vs reversed() built-in function
If you do not want to modify the list but access items in reverse order, you can use reversed() built-in function.
It returns the reversed iterator object, with which you can loop through the list in reverse order.
original = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
original.reverse() # modify the original list
print(f'Using reverse(): {original}') # Output: [5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
reversed_numbers = list(reversed(original))
print(f'Using reversed(): {reversed_numbers}') # Output: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]output
Using reverse(): [5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
Using reversed(): [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]