Empty a list in python

Question

I have a list and I have to clear the list. I am using this :

while len(alist) > 0 : alist.pop()

Is there a better way?

Answer 1

You could use the clear() method of list which is parallel to clear() of dict, set, deque and other mutable in Python 3.3 container types:

alist.clear()  # removes all items from alist (equivalent to del alist[:])

The same can also be achieved with alist *= 0.