some case i write code like these: a,temp,b = s.partition('-') i just need to pick the first and 3rd element. temp would never be used. is there a better way to do this? the common case is ,a better way to pick separted element to make a new list? for example i want to make a new list use old list 0,1,3,7 element code would be this: newlist = [oldlist[0],oldlist[1],oldlist[3],oldlist[7]] it's pretty ugly,isn't it?