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fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# IndexError will occur since there is no fourth element
fourth_fruit = ""

print(fourth_fruit)

# List IndexError Exception Handling

`IndexError` is an exception that occurs when attempting to access an index outside the valid range of a list.

This exception is raised when an index exceeds the length of the list or when attempting to access an element in an empty list.

For example, attempting to access the 4th element in a list with only 3 elements will raise an `IndexError`.

```python title="Example of IndexError"
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# IndexError occurs because there is no 4th element
fourth_fruit = fruits[3]
```

<br />

## How to Handle IndexError Exceptions?

To prevent an `IndexError`, you can either check the length of the list beforehand or use an exception handling.

```python title="Example of Checking List Length"
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]

# Check the length of the list to prevent IndexError
if len(fruits) > 3:
    fourth_fruit = fruits[3]
else:
    print("The list contains only 3 elements.")

print()

# Using exception handling
try:
    fourth_fruit = fruits[3]
except IndexError:
    print("An exception has occurred.")
```

In Python, list indices start at 0, and accessing an index beyond the list's length will raise an IndexError exception.

### An IndexError occurs when accessing an index outside the range of a list.