列表推导式创建列表的方式更简洁。常见的用法为，对序列或可迭代对象中的每个元素应用某种操作，用生成的结果创建新的列表；或用满足特定条件的元素创建子序列。
例如，创建平方值的列表：
>>> squares = []
>>> for x in range(10):
... squares.append(x**2)
...
>>> squares
[0, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81]注意，这段代码创建（或覆盖）变量 x，该变量在循环结束后仍然存在。下述方法可以无副作用地计算平方列表：
squares = list(map(lambda x: x**2, range(10)))或等价于：
squares = [x**2 for x in range(10)]上面这种写法更简洁、易读。
列表推导式的方括号内包含以下内容：一个表达式，后面为一个 for 子句，然后，是零个或多个 for 或 if 子句。结果是由表达式依据 for 和 if 子句求值计算而得出一个新列表。 举例来说，以下列表推导式将两个列表中不相等的元素组合起来：
>>> [(x, y) for x in [1,2,3] for y in [3,1,4] if x != y]
[(1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 1), (2, 4), (3, 1), (3, 4)]等价于：
>>> combs = []
>>> for x in [1,2,3]:
... for y in [3,1,4]:
... if x != y:
... combs.append((x, y))
...
>>> combs
[(1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 3), (2, 1), (2, 4), (3, 1), (3, 4)]表达式是元组（例如上例的 (x, y)）时，必须加上括号：
>>> vec = [-4, -2, 0, 2, 4]
>>> # create a new list with the values doubled
>>> [x*2 for x in vec]
[-8, -4, 0, 4, 8]
>>> # filter the list to exclude negative numbers
>>> [x for x in vec if x >= 0]
[0, 2, 4]
>>> # apply a function to all the elements
>>> [abs(x) for x in vec]
[4, 2, 0, 2, 4]
>>> # call a method on each element
>>> freshfruit = [' banana', ' loganberry ', 'passion fruit ']
>>> [weapon.strip() for weapon in freshfruit]
['banana', 'loganberry', 'passion fruit']
>>> # create a list of 2-tuples like (number, square)
>>> [(x, x**2) for x in range(6)]
[(0, 0), (1, 1), (2, 4), (3, 9), (4, 16), (5, 25)]
>>> # the tuple must be parenthesized, otherwise an error is raised
>>> [x, x**2 for x in range(6)]
File "<stdin>", line 1
[x, x**2 for x in range(6)]
^^^^^^^
SyntaxError: did you forget parentheses around the comprehension target?
>>> # flatten a list using a listcomp with two 'for'
>>> vec = [[1,2,3], [4,5,6], [7,8,9]]
>>> [num for elem in vec for num in elem]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]列表推导式可以使用复杂的表达式和嵌套函数：
>>> from math import pi
>>> [str(round(pi, i)) for i in range(1, 6)]
['3.1', '3.14', '3.142', '3.1416', '3.14159']