Python Tuples

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

Tuple

Tuples are used to store multiple items in a single variable.

Tuple is one of 4 built-in data types in Python used to store collections of data, the other 3 are List, Set, and Dictionary, all with different qualities and usage.

A tuple is a collection which is ordered and unchangeable.

Tuples are written with round brackets.

Example

Create a Tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(thistuple)

Tuple Items

Tuple items are ordered, unchangeable, and allow duplicate values.

Tuple items are indexed, the first item has index [0], the second item has index [1] etc.

Ordered

When we say that tuples are ordered, it means that the items have a defined order, and that order will not change.

Unchangeable

Tuples are unchangeable, meaning that we cannot change, add or remove items after the tuple has been created.

Allow Duplicates

Since tuples are indexed, they can have items with the same value:

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "apple", "cherry")
print(thistuple)

Tuple Length

To determine how many items a tuple has, use the len() function:

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(len(thistuple))

Create Tuple With One Item

To create a tuple with only one item, you have to add a comma after the item, otherwise Python will not recognize it as a tuple.

Example

thistuple = ("apple",)
print(type(thistuple))

#NOT a tuple
thistuple = ("apple")
print(type(thistuple))

Tuple Items - Data Types

Tuple items can be of any data type:

Example

tuple1 = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
tuple2 = (1, 5, 7, 9, 3)
tuple3 = (True, False, False)

A tuple can contain different data types:

Example

tuple1 = ("abc", 34, True, 40, "male")

type()

From Python's perspective, tuples are defined as objects with the data type 'tuple':

Example

mytuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(type(mytuple))

Python - Access Tuple Items

Access Tuple Items

You can access tuple items by referring to the index number, inside square brackets:

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(thistuple[1])

Note: The first item has index 0.

Negative Indexing

Negative indexing means start from the end.

-1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(thistuple[-1])

Range of Indexes

You can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and where to end the range.

When specifying a range, the return value will be a new tuple with the specified items.

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
print(thistuple[2:5])

Note: The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 5 (not included).

Range of Negative Indexes

Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from the end of the tuple:

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
print(thistuple[-4:-1])

Check if Item Exists

To determine if a specified item is present in a tuple use the in keyword:

Example

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
if "apple" in thistuple:
  print("Yes, 'apple' is in the fruits tuple")

Python - Unpack Tuples

Unpacking a Tuple

When we create a tuple, we normally assign values to it. This is called "packing" a tuple:

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

But, in Python, we are also allowed to extract the values back into variables. This is called "unpacking":

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

(green, yellow, red) = fruits

print(green)
print(yellow)
print(red)

Using Asterisk*

If the number of variables is less than the number of values, you can add an * to the variable name and the values will be assigned to the variable as a list:

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "strawberry", "raspberry")

(green, yellow, *red) = fruits

print(green)
print(yellow)
print(red)

Python - Update Tuples

Tuples are unchangeable, meaning that you cannot change, add, or remove items once the tuple is created.

But there are some workarounds.

Change Tuple Values

Once a tuple is created, you cannot change its values. Tuples are unchangeable, or immutable as it also is called.

But there is a workaround. You can convert the tuple into a list, change the list, and convert the list back into a tuple.

x = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
y = list(x)
y[1] = "kiwi"
x = tuple(y)

print(x)

Add Items

Since tuples are immutable, they do not have a built-in append() method, but there are other ways to add items to a tuple.

1. Convert into a list: Just like the workaround for changing a tuple, you can convert it into a list, add your item(s), and convert it back into a tuple.

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
y = list(thistuple)
y.append("orange")
thistuple = tuple(y)

2. Add tuple to a tuple. You are allowed to add tuples to tuples, so if you want to add one item, (or many), create a new tuple with the item(s), and add it to the existing tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
y = ("orange",)
thistuple += y

print(thistuple)

Remove Items

Note: You cannot remove items in a tuple.

Tuples are unchangeable, so you cannot remove items from it, but you can use the same workaround as we used for changing and adding tuple items:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
y = list(thistuple)
y.remove("apple")
thistuple = tuple(y)

Or you can delete the tuple completely:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
del thistuple
print(thistuple) #this will raise an error because the tuple no longer exists

Python - Loop Tuples

Loop Through a Tuple

You can loop through the tuple items by using a for loop.

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
for x in thistuple:
  print(x)

Loop Through the Index Numbers

You can also loop through the tuple items by referring to their index number. Use the range() and len() functions to create a suitable iterable.

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
for i in range(len(thistuple)):
  print(thistuple[i])

Using a While Loop

You can loop through the tuple items by using a while loop.

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
i = 0
while i < len(thistuple):
  print(thistuple[i])
  i = i + 1

Python - Join Tuples

Join Two Tuples

To join two or more tuples you can use the + operator:

tuple1 = ("a", "b", "c")
tuple2 = (1, 2, 3)

tuple3 = tuple1 + tuple2
print(tuple3)

Multiply Tuples

If you want to multiply the content of a tuple a given number of times, you can use the * operator:

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
mytuple = fruits * 2

print(mytuple)

Python - Tuple Methods

Python has two built-in methods that you can use on tuples.

Method	Description
count()	Returns the number of times a specified value occurs in a tuple
index()	Searches the tuple for a specified value and returns the position of where it was found