What does mean

Question

I have been working on a Python code. Can someone explain me the meaning of [:] in the following:

pop = population[:]
 

Is it something like array lists in Java or like a bi-dimensional array?

Answer 1

It's a slicing, and what it does depends on the type of population. If population is a list, this line will create a 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 NumPy array, it will create a new view to the same data.