Working with Tuples in Python

A tuple is a sequence, similar to a list. The difference is that with a Tuple, it’s data is immutable. i.e. Once the data is set, it cannot change.

When you create a tuple, you are going to enclose it within parentheses () instead of square brackets.

my_tuple = (1,2,3,4,5)
print(my_tuple)
# prints (1,2,3,4,5)

Like with lists, they can contain numbers, strings, or other data types.

names = ("Jeff", "Christina", "Joe", "Leanne")
for name in names :
  print(name)
# notice the singular use of name, to get the individual name in our tuple called names

Because tuples are immutable, they do not support methods like append, insert, remove, reverse, or sort, like a list does.

If you cannot change the values of a tuple, why bother having them. Well, it comes down to performance. Tuples can be processed faster, and with less resources (both CPU and RAM) because they are not weighed down with the chance of being changed.

Converting between Tuples and Lists

Using the Tuple() and List() functions, you can convert between the two.

num_tuple = (1,2,3)
num_list = list(num_tuple)
print(num_list)

name_list = ["Tom", "Sally", "Richard"]
name_tuple = tuple(name_list)
print(name_tuple)

Working with Tuples in Python was originally found on Access 2 Learn

Walter Wimberly

Assistant Professor

Walter Wimberly is an Assistant Professor at a regional college in Tennessee, teaching Computer Science in the Software Engineering track. He works as a student advisor, oversees curriculum changes, develops new courses, and manages the advisory panel.
Walter taught full time for about 7 years, before going back into “industry” as a full stack Software Developer for a dozen years. There he focused on web based projects coding in JavaScript/jQuery and utilizing the Bootstrap CSS Framework on the front-end, and coding in PHP, ASP/ASP.Net, SQL on the back-end.

Since he loves teaching, he taught as an adjunct web and digital media classes for eight (8) years, while working in industry, and has since returned to teaching full time.

He has been married for over 25 years, and is father to several special needs boys. As such, he is working on some projects to help others who have special needs to be self-sufficient, and support the care givers of those with special needs. Check out his Autism blog for more info.

Python

Working with Python Objects

ByWalter Wimberly November 21, 2019July 16, 2020

We’ve looked at working with a single object. But what about real life situations, where you need multiple objects? For example, as Python Object of a single student is nice, but you need to have a group of them to be really useful. This also works for other objects, like cars on a dealership lot,…

C++

Introduction to Arrays in C++

ByWalter Wimberly March 6, 2020March 19, 2020

An array isn’t a “data type” like you’d normally think of one. It is a collection of the same type of data, similar to a List in Python. Behind the scenes, there are a few things you need to know however: In an array, all elements must be of the same data type. When constructed,…

Python

Building your first Python Class

ByWalter Wimberly November 11, 2019July 21, 2020

Let’s look at building a simple class. A dice class. If we think of a dice, we know there are different types. We’ll look at something simple like a standard six sided dice. Defining the Class We need to define the class. This starts off similar to a lot of Python. We’ll have a class…

Python

Python’s Set Methods and Functions

ByWalter Wimberly November 5, 2019July 17, 2020

As with other Python objects, there are the set has several functions and methods to make working with it easier. As with the list, tuple, and dictionary, you can use the len() function to get the number of elements within a set. Adding and Removing Elements Adding Elements As with other mutable objects, you can…

Python

Calling Simple Functions in Python

ByWalter Wimberly September 30, 2019October 9, 2019

Let’s first look at a void function, as they are the simplest form of function. Additionally, we’re not going to pass any variables into this function. That means, every time it is called, the exact same thing will run. The first line of our function, is called the function header. It starts with def, letting…

Python

Python’s Dictionary Methods

ByWalter Wimberly November 4, 2019July 15, 2020

Python’s Dictionary datatype is a class, which means it has methods directly associated with it to make working with that data easier. The clear() method allows you to empty the dictionary of all of it’s data. The get() method works similarly to the [key], where you get the value of the key. The main difference…

Converting between Tuples and Lists

Similar Posts