Python Tuples – A Step-By-Step Guide for Beginners

Updated on July 17, 2024

Article Outline

What is a Python Tuple?Tuple Characteristics Python Tuple Types Creating Python Tuples Different Operations Related to Tuples Tuple Membership Test How to Access Tuples?How to Update Tuples?How to Unpack Tuples?How to Use a Loop with Tuples?How to Join Two Tuples?Deleting a Tuple in Python Finding the Length of a Python Tuple Multiple Data Types With Tuplecture Converting a List to a Tuple Nesting of Python Tuples Repetition Python Tuples Difference Between List and Tuples Built-in Methods Conclusion FAQs

Tuples are the inbuilt data structure in the Python programming language. In Python, a tuple is similar to a list. It can store the values of different types of elements. In tuples, all values or elements are separated by commas. In Python, tuples are immutable data structures that cannot be modified after they are created.

What is a Python Tuple?

In Python, Tuple uses stored data in a single variable. Tuples are immutable, meaning they cannot be modified after creation. They are defined by enclosing elements within parenthesis ‘()’ separated by commas. Tuple has defined order. A tuple can store any type of data in a single variable. It can store boolean, string and integers.

Syntax of Tuple


myTuple = (1, 2, 3, 'hello', True)

The following program prints the simple tuple.

Program



tuple = ("Books","123", True)

print(tuple)

Output



('Books', '123', True)

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Tuple Characteristics

There are some characteristics of tuples:

Ordered: Tuple data structures maintain the order of elements.
Immutable: Tuple data structures are immutable, It means we cannot change the elements of the tuple data structure.
Allow Duplicates: Tuple data structures can contain duplicate elements.

Python Tuple Types

Python programming language offers two primary types of tuples: named tuples and unnamed tuples.

Named Tuples: Named tuples can be created by class and assigning a name to the new class. Each element within a named tuple corresponds to field records. The following program demonstrates Named tuples.
Unnamed Tuples: Unnamed tuples are easy to create as compared to named tuples. Named tuples elements separated by command. They are storing unstructured data that does not necessitate naming. The following program demonstrates an unnamed tuple example.

Creating Python Tuples

There are various ways to create a tuple in the Python language. The following list is here:

Using round brackets
With one item
Tuple Constructor

Creating a tuple using the round brackets: To create a tuple using the parenthesis () operators.

Program



var = ("Hello", "World", "Computer")

print(var)

Output



('Hello', 'World', 'Computer')

Creating a tuple with one item:

Python 3.11 also provides another way to create a tuple. The following program demonstrates the code.

Program



values : tuple[int | str, ...] = (1,2,4,"Harry", "Potter", "Hermoine")

print(values)

Output



(1, 2, 4, 'Harry', 'Potter', 'Hermoine')

Tuple Constructor in Python: The tuple constructor in the Python language allows us to create a tuple. The following program demonstrates the tuple constructor.

Program



tuple_constructor_example = tuple(("dsa", "development", "deep learning"))

print(tuple_constructor_example)

Output



('dsa', 'development', 'deep learning')

The following operations are performed in tuples in Python language.

Concatenation
Nesting
Repetition
Slicing
Deleting
Finding the Length
Multiple Data Type with tuples
Conversion of the list to tuples
Tuples in a Loop

Tuple Membership Test

In Python, we can also check whether the substring is in string or using the in operator. If the string is available in Python, it will return true; otherwise, it will return false. The following program demonstrates the tuple membership test.

Program



tuple_ = ("Hello", "Computer", "Wordholic", "Scientist", "Torture", "Multiple Disorder")

# In operator

print('Hello' in tuple_)

print('Items' in tuple_)

# Not in operator

print('Immutable' not in tuple_)

print('Items' not in tuple_)

Output



True

False

True

True

How to Access Tuples?

In Python, tuples are accessed similarly to lists, but they are immutable; this means we cannot change their elements once they are created. Let’s see how we can access the Tuples.

Accessing by Index: We can access elements in a tuple using the square brackets.’[]’ and pass the index. Python uses zero-based indexing. It means the first element is 0.

Program



myTuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

print(my_tuple[0])

print(my_tuple[2])

Output



1

3

Negative Indexing: We can also access the element from the end of the tuple using the negative indices.

Program



myTuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

print(my_tuple[0])

print(my_tuple[-2])

Output



1

4

Slicing: You can also use slicing with tuples. In slicing, you can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and where to end the range.

The following program demonstrates the use of the slicing technique.

Program



myTuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

subset_tuple = my_tuple[2:7]

print(subset_tuple)


subset_with_step = my_tuple[1:9:2]  # Start from index 1, end at

print(subset_with_step)


subset_from_beginning = my_tuple[:5]

print(subset_from_beginning)


subset_to_end = my_tuple[5:]

print(subset_to_end)


subset_negative_indices = my_tuple[-5:-2]

print(subset_negative_indices)

Output



(3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

(2, 4, 6, 8)

(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

(6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

(6, 7, 8)

How to Update Tuples?

Python tuple is unchangeable. This means we cannot change the original tuple. If you attempt to directly modify a tuple, you’ll encounter an error. However, you can achieve a similar effect by creating a new tuple or converting a tuple into a list and then converting the list once again into a tuple.

Concatenation: We can modify a tuple using the concatenation of two tuples to create a new tuple.

Program



tuple1 = (1, 2, 3)

tuple2 = (4, 5, 6)

updated_tuple = tuple1 + tuple2

print(updated_tuple)

Output



(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Reassignment: You can assign a tuple variable to a new tuple that contests the updated values.

The following program demonstrates the reassignment example:

Program



my_tuple = (1, 2, 3)

my_tuple = my_tuple + (4, 5, 6)

print(my_tuple)

Output



(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Convert tuple into a List: We can also convert the tuple and add the value in the list back to the convert-in tuple to modify it.

The following program demonstrates the convert tuple into a list:

Program



myTuple = (1, 2, 3)

myList = list(my_tuple)

myList[1] = 5

myTuple = tuple(my_list)

print(my_tuple)

Output



(1, 5, 3)

How to Unpack Tuples?

In Python, unpacking is a convenient way to assign value to individual variables. It can be done by a single line of code. The following program demonstrates “how we can unpack the tuple”.

Program



# Define a tuple

myTuple = (1, 2, 3)


# Unpack the tuple into individual variables

a, b, c = myTuple


# Print the variables

print(a)

print(b)

print(c)

Output

Using Asterisk: If the number of variables is less than the number of values, we can use the * to the variable name. It assigns the rest of the values in a single variable.

The following program demonstrates the using the asterisk:

Program



myTuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

first, *rest = my_tuple

print(first)

print(rest)

Output



1

[2, 3, 4, 5]

How to Use a Loop with Tuples?

We can also use loops with tuples in the Python programming language. It iterates over the elements of the tuple. There are many ways to do this using for-loop.

Using for loop: The following program demonstrates the for loop with tuples.

Program



my_tuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

# Iterate over the tuple using a for-loop

for item in my_tuple:

print(item)

Output

Using a while loop: The following program demonstrates the while loop for tuples.

Program



myTuple = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

index = 0

# Using a while loop to iterate over the tuple

while index < len(my_tuple):

print(my_tuple[index])

index += 1

Output

How to Join Two Tuples?

We can also join two tuples using the ‘+’ operators to concatenate them. It will create a new tuple that contains both elements from both tuples.

The following program demonstrates the joining of two tuples:

Program



tuple1 = (1, 2, 3)

tuple2 = (4, 5, 6)

# Joining two tuples using the + operator

joined_tuple = tuple1 + tuple2

print(joined_tuple)

Output



(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

We can also use the tuple constructor to join two tuples. The following program uses the tuple constructor.

Program



tuple1 = (1, 2, 3)

tuple2 = (4, 5, 6)

# Joining two tuples using the tuple() constructor

joined_tuple = tuple(tuple1 + tuple2)

print(joined_tuple)

Output



(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Deleting a Tuple in Python

In this section, we will delete the tuple using the del keyword. The output will form an error because you have already deleted the tuple. It will give the NameError.

Remember: We cannot delete the individual element from the tuple. But we can delete the whole tuple using the del keyword.

Program



# Code for deleting a tuple

tuple3 = ( 0, 1)

print(tuple3)

del tuple3

print(tuple3)

Output



(0, 1)

ERROR!

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "<main.py>", line 5, in <module>

NameError: name 'tuple3' is not defined

Finding the Length of a Python Tuple

We can find the length of a tuple using the Python len() function and pass the tuple as the parameter.

Program



# Code for printing the length of a tuple

tuple2 = ('python', 'computer','wrong', 'song')

print(len(tuple2))

Output

Multiple Data Types With Tuplecture

In Python, Tuples are heterogeneous data structures. This means they support elements with multiple data types. The following program demonstrates the use of multiple tuples in a single tuple.

Program



# tuple with different data types

tuple_types = ("Workaholic problem",True,23)

print(tuple_types)

Output



('Workaholic problem', True, 23)

Converting a List to a Tuple

We can convert the list into a tuple using the tuple constructor. The following program demonstrates the list to a tuple.

Program



# Code for converting a list and a string into a tuple

list1 = [0, 1, 2]

print(tuple(list1))

# string 'python'

print(tuple('Harry Potter’))

Output



(0, 1, 2)

('H', 'a', 'r', 'r', 'y', ' ', 'P', 'o', 't', 't', 'e', 'r')

Nesting of Python Tuples

We can also nest tuples in the Python language. Nesting is the process of placing a tuple inside another tuple. Let’s look at this tuple for clarity.

Example



tuple = (12, 23, 36, 20, 51, 40, (200, 240, 100))

The following program demonstrates the Nesting tuple example.

Program



tuple=(12,55,"harry",True,(200,300,400,7000))

print(tuple)

Output



(12, 55, 'harry', True, (200, 300, 400, 7000))

Repetition Python Tuples

We can also create a tuple of multiple elements from a single element in that tuple. The following program demonstrates the repetition of a Python tuple.

Program



tuple3 = ('python',)*10

print(tuple3)

Output



('python', 'python', 'python', 'python', 'python', 'python', 'python', 'python', 'python', 'python')

Difference Between List and Tuples

The following table shows the difference between a list and a tuple.

Python Lists	Python Tuples
List are mutable data structures in Python	Tuples are immutable data structure
In list iteration is time-consuming	In tuples, iterations are comparatively faster than list
Inserting and deleting items is easier with a list	Accessing the elements is best accomplished with tuple data type
List consumers with more memory in the computer system.	Tuples consume less memory than list
In the list, unexpected changes occur more as compared to a tuple Because lists are mutable	In a tuple, changes and more errors don’ n’t usually occur because of immutability

Built-in Methods

Built-in-Method	Description
index()	Find in the tuple and return the index of the given value if the value is available
count()	This method returns the frequency of occurrence of species value.

Conclusion

In this article, we learned about tuples in Python and saw that they are immutable data structures. After defining a tuple, we cannot change its original state. A tuple stores heterogeneous elements. It can store different data types, including number, strings list, and other tuples. We also learned various approaches to access the tuple and modify the existing tuple. Overall, tuples provide a lightweight and efficient way to store and work immutable sequences of data in Python. If you want to learn more about the Python language, consider pursuing the Accelerator Program in Business Analytics and Data Science.

FAQs

What is a tuple in Python?

A tuple is an ordered and immutable collection of elements. Tuple enclosed within parenthesis ‘()’. It can contain elements of different data types, separated by commas.

How do you create a tuple in Python?

Tuples can be created by enclosing within parentheses ‘()’, separated by command, for example ‘myTuple=(1,2,3)’.

How do you iterate over a tuple in Python?

We can iterate over a tuple using a ‘for’ loop and ‘while’ loop or other iterable methods like ‘enumerate()

Can you concatenate two tuples in Python?

Yes, we can concatenate two tuples using the ‘+’ operator or the ‘tuple()’ constructor.

How do you access elements in a tuple?

Indexing can access a tuple. In Python, indexing starts at 0. ‘Mytuple[0]’ will access the first element.

Updated on July 17, 2024

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