print 'Simple Assignment' shoplist = ['apple', 'mango', 'carrot', 'banana'] # mylist is just another name pointing to the same object! mylist = shoplist # I purchased the first item, so I remove it from the list del shoplist[0] print 'shoplist is', shoplist print 'mylist is', mylist # Notice that both shoplist and mylist both print # the same list without the 'apple' confirming that # they point to the same object print 'Copy by making a full slice' # Make a copy by doing a full slice mylist = shoplist[:] # Remove first item del mylist[0] print 'shoplist is', shoplist print 'mylist is', mylist # Notice that now the two lists are different