Elisp: Create List

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Create List (Literal Expression)

To create a list, write it like this (list a b etc).

list
(list args)

create a list of items. 

; assign a list to a var
(setq xx (list 1 "b" 3))
; prints a list
(message "%S" xx)

If you do not want the elements evaluated, write it like this:

'(a b etc)

This is equivalent to

(quote (a b etc))

; assign a list to a var
(setq xx '(a b c))

; prints a list
(message "%S" xx)
;; create a list of values of variables
(let (x y z)
  (setq x 3)
  (setq y 4)
  (setq z 5)
  (message "%S" (list x y z)))
 ;; "(3 4 5)"

〔see Elisp: Equality Test〕

Create a List of Same Value

make-list
(make-list LENGTH INIT)

Create a list of length LENGTH, and all elements with value INIT. 

(make-list 3 0)
;; (0 0 0)

Create List of Range of Numbers

number-sequence
  • (number-sequence value)
  • (number-sequence n m)
  • (number-sequence n m step)

Return a list of 1 element of value value.

or

Return a list of a range of numbers, from n to m, in increment of step. 

;; just 1 element
(number-sequence 5)
;; '(5)

;; n to m, inclusive
(number-sequence 2 5)
;; '(2 3 4 5)

;; using 3 as step
(number-sequence 0 9 3)
;; '(0 3 6 9)

;; may not include end boundary
(number-sequence 0 9 2)
;; '(0 2 4 6 8)

;; negative step
(number-sequence 4 0 -1)
;; '(4 3 2 1 0)

;; boundaries can be float but may not include last boundary
(number-sequence 2.2 5.3)
;; '(2.2 3.2 4.2 5.2)

Misc

Reference

Emacs Lisp, list

Special Lists

List Structure