Python error explained
IndexError: what it means and how to fix it
You asked for a position that does not exist in the list.
The message
IndexError: list index out of rangeWhat it means
Lists count from 0, so a list of 3 items has positions 0, 1 and 2. Asking for position 3 or more, or for anything in an empty list, raises an IndexError.
Common causes
- Forgetting that the first item is at 0
- Using len(items) as an index (the last one is len(items) - 1)
- A loop that goes one step too far
- Reading from a list that turned out to be empty
Example that raises it
podium = ["Ada", "Grace", "Linus"]
print("Gold:", podium[1])
print("Silver:", podium[2])
print("Bronze:", podium[3])
The fix
podium = ["Ada", "Grace", "Linus"]
print("Gold:", podium[0])
print("Silver:", podium[1])
print("Bronze:", podium[2])
Tip: Use podium[-1] for the last item, and loop with for item in podium so you never need the positions at all.
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