How to take the first N items from a generator or list? [duplicate]

Question

With linq I would

var top5 = array.Take(5); 

How to do this with Python?

Answer 1

Slicing a list

top5 = array[:5] 

• To slice a list, there's a simple syntax: array[start:stop:step]
• You can omit any parameter. These are all valid: array[start:], array[:stop], array[::step]

Slicing a generator

import itertools top5 = itertools.islice(my_list, 5) # grab the first five elements 

• You can't slice a generator directly in Python. itertools.islice() will wrap an object in a new slicing generator using the syntax itertools.islice(generator, start, stop, step)

• Remember, slicing a generator will exhaust it partially. If you want to keep the entire generator intact, perhaps turn it into a tuple or list first, like: result = tuple(generator)

Answer 2

import itertools  top5 = itertools.islice(array, 5)