11 Ways to Create a List of Odd Numbers in Python

Method 1: Using List Comprehension

To create a list of odd numbers in Python, you can use the list comprehension [x for x in range(10) if x%2==1] that iterates over all values x between 0 and 10 (exclusive) and uses the modulo operator x%2 to check if x is divisible by 2 with remainder, i.e., x%2==1.

Here’s a minimal example:

odd_numbers = [x for x in range(10) if x%2==1]
print(odd_numbers)
# [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]

🔗 Recommended: List Comprehension in Python — A Helpful Illustrated Guide

Method 2: Using a For-loop and Append Method

This method involves a standard for-loop and the list’s append() method. We iterate from 0 to 10, multiply each number by 2 and add 1 to get odd numbers, and append these to the list.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = []
for i in range(0, 11):
    odd_numbers.append(i * 2 + 1)
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21]

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Method 3: Using a For-loop and List’s += Operator

This method is similar to the previous one, but instead of using the append() method, we use the list’s += operator to add new elements.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = []
for i in range(0, 11):
    odd_numbers += [i * 2 + 1]
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21]

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Method 4: Using a While-loop

This method uses a while-loop to generate the list of odd numbers. We start with i=0 and increment i in each iteration until it exceeds 10.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = []
i = 0
while i <= 10:
    odd_numbers.append(i * 2 + 1)
    i += 1
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21]

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Method 5: Using List Comprehension (✅ One-Liner)

List comprehension is a concise way to create lists in Python. It can be used to generate a list of odd numbers by multiplying each number in a range by 2 and adding 1.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = [i * 2 + 1 for i in range(0, 11)]
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21]

🔗 Recommended: List Comprehension in Python — A Helpful Illustrated Guide

Method 6: Using the Map Function (✅ One-Liner)

The map() function applies a given function to each item of an iterable (e.g., list) and returns a list of the results. We can use it with a lambda function to generate odd numbers.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = list(map(lambda x: x * 2 + 1, range(0, 11)))
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21]

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Method 7: Using the Filter Function (✅ One-Liner)

The filter() function constructs a list from elements of an iterable for which a function returns True. Here, we use it with a lambda function to filter odd numbers from a range.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = list(filter(lambda x: x % 2 == 1, range(0, 21)))
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19]

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Method 8: Using the Range Function with a Step Argument (✅ One-Liner)

The range() function can accept a step argument to skip numbers. By starting at 2 and stepping by 2, we can generate a list of odd numbers.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = list(range(1, 21, 2))
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19]

🔗 Recommended: Python range() Function — A Helpful Illustrated Guide

Method 9: Using the Itertools Module (✅ One-Liner)

The itertools module is part of the Python standard library and contains many functions that are useful for efficient iteration. Here, we use itertools.count to create an infinite sequence of odd numbers, and itertools.islice to take the first 10.

Here’s an example:

import itertools
odd_numbers = list(itertools.islice(itertools.count(1, 2), 10))
print(odd_numbers)
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19]

This code uses the itertools module in Python to generate a list of the first 10 odd numbers.

Here’s a breakdown of how it works:

1. itertools.count(1, 2): This function generates an infinite sequence starting at 1 and incrementing by 2 each time. This means it will generate the infinite sequence of odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, …
2. itertools.islice(itertools.count(1, 2), 10): This function takes two arguments: an iterable and a stop value. It returns a generator that yields items from the iterable, but stops after the specified number of items. In this case, it generates the first 10 odd numbers.
3. list(itertools.islice(itertools.count(1, 2), 10)): This code converts the generator object returned by itertools.islice() into a list. The list is assigned to the variable odd_numbers.
4. print(odd_numbers): This line prints the list of the first 10 odd numbers.

The output is: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19], which are the first 10 odd numbers.

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Method 10: Using Numpy Array (✅ One-Liner)

Numpy is a powerful library for numerical computations in Python. We can use the numpy function arange() to generate a sequence of odd numbers.

Here’s an example:

import numpy as np
odd_numbers = list(np.arange(1, 21, 2))
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19]

🔗 Recommended: NumPy arange(): A Simple Illustrated Guide

Method 11: Using Generator Expression (✅ One-Liner)

A generator expression is a high-performance, memory–efficient generalization of list comprehensions and generators. In this method, data is not stored in memory all at once but is generated on the fly.

Here’s an example:

odd_numbers = list(i * 2 + 1 for i in range(0, 11))
# Output: [1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21]

🔗 Recommended: Python Generator Expressions

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