Erase whole array Python

pjehyun picture pjehyun · Aug 17, 2010 · Viewed 127.3k times · Source

How do I erase a whole array, leaving it with no items?

I want to do this so I can store new values in it (a new set of 100 floats) and find the minimum.

Right now my program is reading the minimum from sets before I think because it is appending itself with the previous set still in there. I use .append by the way.

Answer

Matthew Flaschen picture Matthew Flaschen · Aug 17, 2010

Note that list and array are different classes. You can do:

del mylist[:]

This will actually modify your existing list. David's answer creates a new list and assigns it to the same variable. Which you want depends on the situation (e.g. does any other variable have a reference to the same list?).

Try:

a = [1,2]
b = a
a = []

and

a = [1,2]
b = a
del a[:]

Print a and b each time to see the difference.