What is the expected output of the following code? def get_names(): names = ['Peter', 'Paul', 'Mary', 'Jane', 'Steve'] return names[2:] def update_names(names): res = [] for name in names…

The correct answer is C. ['MAR', 'JAN', 'STE']. get_names() uses names[2:] to slice the list starting at index 2 (zero-based), returning ['Mary', 'Jane', 'Steve'] - not the first two elements, but everything from the third onward. Then update_names() applies name[:3].upper() to each, taking the first 3 characters and…

Question

What is the expected output of the following code?
def get_names():
names = ['Peter', 'Paul', 'Mary', 'Jane', 'Steve']
return names[2:]
def update_names(names):
res = []
for name in names:
res.append(name[:3].upper())
return res
print(update_names(get_names()))

Options

A['JA', 'ST']
B['MA', 'JA', 'ST']
C['MAR', 'JAN', 'STE']
D['JAN', 'STE']

How the community answered

(36 responses)

A
14% (5)
B
3% (1)
C
75% (27)
D
8% (3)

Explanation

get_names() uses names[2:] to slice the list starting at index 2 (zero-based), returning ['Mary', 'Jane', 'Steve'] - not the first two elements, but everything from the third onward. Then update_names() applies name[:3].upper() to each, taking the first 3 characters and uppercasing them: 'Mary'[:3] → 'MAR', 'Jane'[:3] → 'JAN', 'Steve'[:3] → 'STE', giving ['MAR', 'JAN', 'STE'].

Why the distractors fail:

A and B use only 2 characters per name (name[:2]), not 3 - a confusion between [:2] and [:3].
A and D are also missing 'Mary'/'MAR', suggesting a misread of names[2:] as "skip the first three" rather than "start at index 2."
D gets the 3-character slice right but incorrectly starts the slice at index 3 instead of 2, dropping 'Mary'.

Memory tip: Think of Python slicing as [start:stop] where start is included - so names[2:] means "give me element 2 and everything after it," not "skip 2 elements." Pair that with [:3] meaning "the first 3 characters (indices 0, 1, 2)," and you'll nail both slices every time.

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