Get Length of a List in Python Without Using Len()

Python len() method is the most common and widely used method for getting the length of a list in Python. But we can use other methods as well for getting the length or size of the list. In this article, we will see how to find the length of a list in Python without using the len() function.

Find The Length Of A List In Python Without Using Len()

Below are some of the ways by which we can find the length of a list in Python without using the len() function in Python:

1. Using Loop
2. Using a While Loop
3. Using Recursion
4. Using List Comprehension

Find The Length of a List Using Loop

We can iterate through the list and count the elements using a loop.

Python3

# List in Python
my_list = [32, 4445, 67, 78, "Lokesh", "Bhopal"]

count = 0
# Iterating through List
for _ in my_list:
    count += 1

print("The length of the list is : ", count)

Output

The length of the list is :  6

Get Length of a List In Python Without Using Len()

Similar to the for loop, we can use a while loop to iterate through the list and count the elements.

Python3

# List in Python
my_list = [32, 4445, 67, "demo", 78, "Lokesh", "Bhopal"]

count = 0
# Iterating through List
while(my_list):
    my_list.pop()
    count += 1


print("The length of the list is : ", count)

Output

The length of the list is :  7

Find The Length of a List Using Recursion

We can also find the length of list using recursion. In this example, we have used recursion to find the length of a list.

Python3

# Recursive function for getting length
def list_size(my_list):
    if not my_list:
        return 0
    my_list.pop()
    return 1 + list_size(my_list)


# List in Python
my_list = [32, 89.0, 456, 23, 78, "Lokesh", "Bhopal"]
count = list_size(my_list)
print("The length of the list is : ", count)

Output

The length of the list is :  7

Length of a List Without Using Len() Using List Comprehension

We can use a list comprehension to create a new list with the same elements and then find the length of the new list.

Python3

my_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
length = sum(1 for _ in my_list)

print("Length of the list:", length)

Output

Length of the list: 5