python - Difference between list = [] vs. list.clear()

Question

What is the difference between list = [] and list.clear()?

Base on the behavior of my code and my own observation, list.clear() removes its entries and also the entries I used to append its data.

Example:

container.append(list)
list.clear()

container will also be []

Answer 1

Calling clear removes all the element from the list. Assigning [] just replaces that variable with another empty list. This becomes evident when you have two variables pointing to the same list.

Consider the following snippet:

>>> l1 = [1, 2, 3]
>>> l2 = l1
>>> l1.clear()
>>> l1 # l1 is obviously empty
[]
>>> l2 # But so is l2, since it's the same object
[]

As compared to this one:

>>> l1 = [1, 2, 3]
>>> l2 = l1
>>> l1 = []
>>> l1 # l1 is obviously empty
[]
>>> l2 # But l2 still points to the previous value, and is not affected
[1, 2, 3]