I also found this: http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.5/whatsnew/section-slices.html http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.5/whatsnew/section-slices.html These are "extende

I also found this: http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.5/whatsnew/section-slices.html http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.5/whatsnew/section-slices.html These are "extended slices" and the third argument is the step. This link also explores deletion and the __getitem__ method: One can also now pass slice objects to the __getitem__ methods of the built-in sequences: >>> range(10).__getitem__(slice(0, 5, 2)) [0, 2, 4] Or use slice objects directly in subscripts: >>> range(10)[slice(0, 5, 2)] [0, 2, 4]