Need explanation on this code I came across in a challenge

Question

a = [1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8]

for a[1] in a:
pass

print(a)

#output:
[1, 8, 2, 3, 5, 8]

Answer 1

Are you familiar with for loop?

a = [ 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8]

If you simply execute

for i in a:
print(i)

It will print all the elements of a because every time it is assigned the next element of list. in the end of the loop, i is assigned the value of last element.

Similarly

for a[1] in a:
pass

As the loop is executed
a [1] is first assigned 1
Then a[1]. = 1
a[1]. = 2
a[1] = 3
a[1] = 5
a[1] = 8

At the end of the loop, the element at index 1 is replaced with the last element that is 8.

Put a print(a) in for loop and you can see this pattern.

If you put another number after 8 in list, the element at index 1 will be replaced the value of that element.

Answer 2

Utkarsh Sharma I am familiar with for loop. I understood your explanation perfectly, thank you so much. I will most definetly put print(a) in for loop to see the pattern aswell!