[Edit] Python - .append() (#6573)

* Update append.md

* updated broken link, spacing, backticks, bold terms, fixed lint and format

* added codebyte description

---------

Co-authored-by: Mamta Wardhani <[email protected]>

Author: Radhika-okhade

content/python/concepts/lists/terms/append/append.md

@@ -1,51 +1,147 @@
 ---
 Title: '.append()'
-Description: 'Adds an item to end of the list.'
+Description: 'Adds a single item to the end of a list in Python.'
 Subjects:
-  - 'Data Science'
+  - 'Code Foundations'
   - 'Computer Science'
 Tags:
+  - 'Arrays'
+  - 'Data Structures'
   - 'Lists'
   - 'Methods'
 CatalogContent:
   - 'learn-python-3'
-  - 'paths/data-science'
   - 'paths/computer-science'
 ---
 
-The Python list method `.append()` adds an item to the end of a list.
+The **`.append()`** method adds a single item to the end of an existing Python list. [Lists](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/python/lists) in Python are mutable sequences that can store multiple items of different [data types](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/python/data-types). When new elements need to be added to a list after it's been created, the `.append()` method provides a simple and efficient way to add items to the end of the list.
 
 ## Syntax
 
-```py
+```pseudo
 list.append(item)
 ```
 
-The `.append()` will place the object passed in as a new element at the very end of the list. Printing the list afterwards will visually show the appended value.
+**Parameters:**
+
+- `item`: An element of any data type (string, number, list, etc.) to be added to the end of the list.
+
+**Return value:**
 
-This method is not to be confused with returning an entirely new list with the passed object.
+The method doesn't return any value (returns `None`). It modifies the original list in-place.
 
-## Example
+## Example 1: Adding an item to a list
 
-To add `'🥚'` to the end of the `grocery` list:
+This example demonstrates how to add an item to the end of a list:
 
 ```py
-grocery = ['🍉', '🍪', '🥬', '🥕']
+# Create a list of fruits
+fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']
+
+# Add 'orange' to the list
+fruits.append('orange')
+
+# Print the updated list
+print(fruits)
+```
 
-grocery.append('🥚')
+This example results in the following output:
 
-print(grocery)
-# Output: ['🍉', '🍪', '🥬', '🥕', '🥚']
+```shell
+['apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'orange']
 ```
 
-## Codebyte Example
+The original list `fruits` has been modified to include `'orange'` as the last element. The `.append()` method added the new item directly to the end of the list.
+
+## Example 2: Adding list to a list
+
+When appending a list to another list, the entire list is added as a single element:
+
+```py
+# Create a list of fruits
+fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry']
+
+# Create a list of berries
+berries = ['strawberry', 'blueberry']
 
-To add `'tulips'` to the end of the `orders` list:
+# Append the berries list to the fruits list
+fruits.append(berries)
+
+# Print the updated list
+print(fruits)
+```
+
+This example will generate the following output:
+
+```shell
+['apple', 'banana', 'cherry', ['strawberry', 'blueberry']]
+```
+
+Notice that the `berries` list has been added as a single item to the `fruits` list, creating a nested list structure. To add each element individually instead, the [`.extend()`](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/python/lists/extend) method would be more appropriate.
+
+## Codebyte example: Demonstrating `.append()` in Python
+
+This example demonstrates how to use `.append()` to add various items including strings, numbers, and lists to a Python list:
 
 ```codebyte/python
-orders = ['daisies', 'periwinkle']
+# Create an empty shopping list
+shopping_list = []
+
+# Add items to the shopping list
+shopping_list.append('bread')
+shopping_list.append('milk')
+shopping_list.append('eggs')
+
+print("Shopping list:", shopping_list)
 
-orders.append('tulips')
+# Add a numeric item to the list
+shopping_list.append(3)  # Number of apples
 
-print(orders)
+print("Updated shopping list:", shopping_list)
+
+# Append a nested list
+shopping_list.append(['cheese', 'butter'])
+
+print("Final shopping list:", shopping_list)
+
+# Access the nested list items
+print("Dairy items:", shopping_list[4])
+```
+
+## Frequently Asked Questions
+
+### 1. What is `.append()` and `.extend()` in Python?
+
+`.append()` adds a single item to the end of a list as one element, even if that item is itself a list. `.extend()` adds individual elements from an iterable (like another list) to the end of the current list. For example:
+
+```py
+list1 = [1, 2, 3]
+list1.append([4, 5])  # Results in [1, 2, 3, [4, 5]]
+list2 = [1, 2, 3]
+list2.extend([4, 5])  # Results in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
+```
+
+### 2. When can I use append?
+
+You can use `.append()` whenever you need to add a single item to the end of an existing list. Common use cases include:
+
+- Building a list dynamically as you collect data
+- Adding user input to a list
+- Accumulating results in a calculation
+- Constructing a list step by step in algorithms
+
+### 3. How to append a string?
+
+Appending a string to a list works just like appending any other item. The string becomes a single element in the list:
+
+```py
+words = ['hello', 'world']
+words.append('python')  # Results in ['hello', 'world', 'python']
+```
+
+If you want to append each character of a string separately, you can use the `.extend()` method instead:
+
+```py
+letters = ['a', 'b', 'c']
+letters.extend('def')  # Results in ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f']
 ```