Python - Convert string to list with same structure

Question

I have a Python string (str), which is "['Fish & Chips', 'Fast Food', 'Restaurants']".

How can I convert this string to a list?

Answer 1

Edit: See snakecharmerb's for a safer alternative to eval().

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It seems like you're looking for eval(), which takes a string and evaluates it as a Python expression:

s = "['Fish & Chips', 'Fast Food', 'Restaurants']"

eval(s)
# ['Fish & Chips', 'Fast Food', 'Restaurants']

type(eval(s))
# list

Answer 2

While eval works it's safer to use ast.literal_eval if the input data is not trusted:

>>> import ast
>>> s = "['Fish & Chips', 'Fast Food', 'Restaurants']"
>>> ast.literal_eval(s)
['Fish & Chips', 'Fast Food', 'Restaurants']