What is the difference between range and xrange functions in Python?

The range and xrange functions in Python are used to generate a sequence of numbers, and they are often utilized within for loops to iterate over a block of code a certain number of times. However, there are key differences between the two, particularly in terms of their implementation and usage in different versions of Python.

Python 2.x Differences

• Return Type: range returns a list of numbers, while xrange returns an xrange object, which is an iterable that generates each number in the sequence on demand[2][6].

• Memory Usage: range creates a list containing all the numbers in the specified range, which can consume a significant amount of memory for large ranges. In contrast, xrange is more memory efficient because it computes each number on the fly and does not store the entire range in memory[2][3][6].

• Operations: Since range returns a list, you can perform all list operations on it, such as slicing. However, xrange returns an xrange object, which does not support all list operations, such as slicing with a range[6].

• Speed: xrange can be faster than range when iterating over large ranges because it does not need to create a list of all the numbers in the range. Instead, it generates each number as needed[2][6].

Python 3.x Changes

• Python 3 Update: In Python 3, the...