During programming, there will be instances when you will need to convert existing lists to arrays in order to perform certain operations on them (arrays enable mathematical operations to be performed on them in ways that lists do not).

> Lists can be converted to arrays using the built-in functions in the Python [numpy](https://www.educative.io/edpresso/what-is-numpy) library.


`numpy` provides us with two functions to use when converting a list into an array:

- `numpy.array()`

- `numpy.asarray()`

## 1. Using `numpy.array()`

This function of the `numpy` library takes a list as an argument and returns an array that contains all the elements of the list. See the example below:

import numpy as np
my_list = [2,4,6,8,10]
my_array = np.array(my_list)
# printing my_array
print my_array
# printing the type of my_array
print type(my_array)

## 2. Using `numpy.asarray()`

This function calls the `numpy.array()` function inside itself. See the definition below:

```
def asarray(a, dtype=None, order=None):
    return array(a, dtype, copy=False, order=order)
```

> The main difference between `np.array()` and `np.asarray()` is that the `copy` flag is `false` in the case of `np.asarray()`, and `true` (by default) in the case of `np.array()`.

This means that `np.array()` will make a copy of the object (by default) and convert that to an array, while `np.asarray()` will not.

The code below ​illustrates the usage of `np.asarray()`:




import numpy as np
my_list = [2,4,6,8,10]
my_array = np.asarray(my_list)
# printing my_array
print my_array
# printing the type of my_array
print type(my_array)

How to convert a list to an array in Python

1. Using numpy.array()

2. Using numpy.asarray()

1. Using `numpy.array()`

2. Using `numpy.asarray()`