--- title: Why Do Python Lists Multiply Oddly? Exploring the... description: This post explores why Python lists multiply oddly when using the * operator. It dives into the internal implementation of lists in CPython, explaining how... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/why-do-python-lists-multiply-oddly-exploring-the-cpython-source-code-fwitajphq twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Why Do Python Lists Multiply Oddly? Exploring the CPython Source Code | daily.dev og:description: This post explores why Python lists multiply oddly when using the * operator. It dives into the internal implementation of lists in CPython, explaining how... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/why-do-python-lists-multiply-oddly-exploring-the-cpython-source-code-fwitajphq og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/fwITAJPhQ.png og:image:alt: Why Do Python Lists Multiply Oddly? Exploring the CPython Source Code og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Why Do Python Lists Multiply Oddly? Exploring the CPython Source Code **[Confessions of a Code Addict](https://daily.dev/sources/codeconfessions)** · 11 min read · 2 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary This post explores why Python lists multiply oddly when using the * operator. It dives into the internal implementation of lists in CPython, explaining how references are stored and how the * operator works. It provides a high level answer using the REPL and then delves into the details of the list object structure in CPython. It also discusses the internal object storage mechanism and how the CPython runtime executes the * operator for lists. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@debajyatidey** · 1 upvotes > Amazing article! --- Tags: [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#cpython](https://daily.dev/tags/cpython) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/why-do-python-lists-multiply-oddly-exploring-the-cpython-source-code-fwitajphq) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Why Do Python Lists Multiply Oddly? 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It dives into the internal implementation of lists in CPython, explaining how...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/1395c7ff988a838bef60f866a1e3eb40?_a=AQAEufR","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/1395c7ff988a838bef60f866a1e3eb40?_a=AQAEufR","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Confessions of a Code Addict","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Confessions of a Code Addict","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/13e0f42f33864f94bf4d8f0e43234afd","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/codeconfessions"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-do-python-lists-multiply-oddly-exploring-the-cpython-source-code-fwitajphq","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"python,cpython","timeRequired":"PT11M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Confessions of a Code Addict","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/codeconfessions"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why Do Python Lists Multiply Oddly? 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