Tuples in Python

This tutorial provides an in-depth explanation of tuples in Python, including how they work, their key features, and various examples of how to use them.

Updated March 8, 2023

Today, we will talk about one of the fundamental data structures in Python - Tuples. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and explore everything there is to know about Tuples.

In Python, a Tuple is an immutable sequence of objects, similar to a list, but it cannot be modified once created. That means, you cannot add or remove elements from a Tuple once it’s created. However, you can still access its elements, iterate over them, and perform various operations on them.

Creating a Tuple in Python is straightforward. You can create a Tuple by enclosing a comma-separated list of objects within parentheses. Let’s see an example to understand it better:

my_tuple = (1, 2, 3, 'Hello', 'World')
print(my_tuple)

output:

(1, 2, 3, 'Hello', 'World')

As you can see, we have created a Tuple named my_tuple, which contains a few integers and strings.

Now, let’s explore some of the essential features of Tuples.

One of the most common use cases for tuples is when returning multiple values from a function. Let’s take a look at an example:

def divide(x, y):
    quotient = x // y
    remainder = x % y
    return (quotient, remainder)

In this function, we use a tuple to return both the quotient and the remainder of dividing x by y. The caller can then use tuple unpacking to extract the values:

q, r = divide(42, 5)
print(q)  # Output: 8
print(r)  # Output: 2

Another useful feature of tuples is that they can be used as keys in dictionaries. Since tuples are immutable, they can be hashed, which makes them ideal candidates for use as keys in dictionaries. Here’s an example:

my_dict = {(1, 2): "hello", (3, 4): "world"}
print(my_dict[(1, 2)])  # Output: "hello"

In this example, we’ve created a dictionary with tuples as keys. We can retrieve the value associated with a particular key by using the tuple as an index.

Also, it’s worth noting that tuples can be used in conjunction with the * and ** operators to perform some interesting and useful operations. The * operator can be used to unpack a tuple into a function call:

my_tuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
print(*my_tuple)  # Output: 1 2 3 4 5

In this example, we’ve used the * operator to unpack the values in my_tuple and pass them as arguments to the print() function.

The ** operator can be used to unpack a dictionary into a function call:

my_dict = {"x": 1, "y": 2, "z": 3}
print("{x}, {y}, {z}".format(**my_dict))  # Output: "1, 2, 3"

In this example, we’ve used the ** operator to unpack the values in my_dict and pass them as keyword arguments to the format() method.

Accessing Tuple Elements

You can access the elements of a Tuple using their index, just like a list. The only difference is that you cannot change the value of a Tuple element once it’s created.

Let’s see an example:

my_tuple = (1, 2, 3, 'Hello', 'World')
print(my_tuple[0])
print(my_tuple[3])

Tuple Slicing

Similar to lists, Tuples also support slicing. You can slice a Tuple to create a new Tuple that contains a subset of its elements. Let’s see an example:

my_tuple = (1, 2, 3, 'Hello', 'World')
print(my_tuple[1:4])  # Output: (2, 3, 'Hello')

Tuple Unpacking

Tuple unpacking is a powerful feature in Python that allows you to assign the values of a Tuple to multiple variables at once. Let’s see an example:

my_tuple = (1, 2, 3)
a, b, c = my_tuple
print(a)  # Output: 1
print(b)  # Output: 2
print(c)  # Output: 3

Tuple Operations

Although Tuples are immutable, you can still perform various operations on them, such as concatenation, repetition, and comparison. Let’s see some examples:

# Tuple Concatenation
tuple1 = (1, 2, 3)
tuple2 = ('Hello', 'World')
tuple3 = tuple1 + tuple2
print(tuple3)  # Output: (1, 2, 3, 'Hello', 'World')

# Tuple Repetition
my_tuple = ('Hello', 'World')
print(my_tuple * 3)  # Output: ('Hello', 'World', 'Hello', 'World', 'Hello', 'World')

# Tuple Comparison
tuple1 = (1, 2, 3)
tuple2 = (1, 2, 3)
tuple3 = (3, 2, 1)
print(tuple1 == tuple2)  # Output: True
print(tuple1 == tuple3)  # Output: False

Conclusion