Tuples — Creating Tuples and Operations

A tuple is an ordered, immutable collection, written with parentheses ().

Creating Tuples

empty = ()
single = (5,)          # comma is REQUIRED for a single-element tuple
t = (1, 2, 3)
without_parens = 1, 2, 3    # parentheses are optional
mixed = (1, "two", 3.0)
from_list = tuple([1, 2, 3])
nested = ((1, 2), (3, 4))

x = (5)          # this is just an int, NOT a tuple!
y = (5,)          # this IS a tuple
print(type(x), type(y))   # <class 'int'> <class 'tuple'>

Tuples are Immutable

t = (1, 2, 3)
# t[0] = 100   # TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment

Tuple Operations

t1 = (1, 2, 3)
t2 = (4, 5)

print(len(t1))         # 3
print(t1 + t2)          # (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
print(t1 * 2)            # (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3)
print(2 in t1)            # True
print(max(t1), min(t1))    # 3 1

Accessing and Slicing (same as lists)

t = (10, 20, 30, 40, 50)
print(t[0])       # 10
print(t[-1])      # 50
print(t[1:4])     # (20, 30, 40)

Tuple Unpacking

point = (10, 20)
x, y = point
print(x, y)   # 10 20

a, *rest = (1, 2, 3, 4)
print(a, rest)   # 1 [2, 3, 4]

Why use tuples over lists?

• Immutability protects data from accidental modification.
• Tuples are slightly faster and use less memory than lists.
• Tuples can be used as dictionary keys; lists cannot (lists are unhashable).