Differences between my_list = range(1:6) and my_list = list(range(1:6))

Note that there's a big difference between python2 and python3 when working with ranges.

In Python2, the range function actually returns a plain list:

>>> type(range(1,10))
<type 'list'>

This is why in Python2, the explicit conversion to the list class is not required and you can simply use the output of the range function directly as a plain list.

In Python3 things change a little bit. The range function no longer returns a plain list, but an instance of the range class.

>>> type(range(1,5))
<class 'range'>

This object, even if it is not an actual list, can be iterated over and can be used in for loops, list comprehensions and all other looping constructs. However, if you want to use it as a plain list and apply to it all the operations that are specific to lists, you need to do an explicit type conversion by calling the list constructor method and pass to it the range object:

>>> type(range(1,10))
<class 'range'>
>>> type(list(range(1,10)))
<class 'list'>

Hope this helps.