1.9. Introducing tuples

1.9. Introducing tuples

A tuple is an immutable list. A tuple can not be changed in any way once it is created.

Example 1.23. Defining a tuple

>>> t = ("a", "b", "mpilgrim", "z", "example") 
>>> t
('a', 'b', 'mpilgrim', 'z', 'example')
>>> t[0]                                       
'a'
>>> t[-1]                                      
'example'
>>> t[1:3]                                     
('b', 'mpilgrim')

	A tuple is defined in the same way as a list, except that the whole set of elements is enclosed in parentheses instead of square brackets.
	The elements of a tuple have a defined order, just like a list. Tuples indices are zero-based, just like a list, so the first element of a non-empty tuple is always `t[0]`.
	Negative indices count from the end of the tuple, just like a list.
	Slicing works too, just like a list. Note that when you slice a list, you get a new list; when you slice a tuple, you get a new tuple.

Example 1.24. Tuples have no methods

>>> t
('a', 'b', 'mpilgrim', 'z', 'example')
>>> t.append("new")    
Traceback (innermost last):
  File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?
AttributeError: 'tuple' object has no attribute 'append'
>>> t.remove("z")      
Traceback (innermost last):
  File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?
AttributeError: 'tuple' object has no attribute 'remove'
>>> t.index("example") 
Traceback (innermost last):
  File "<interactive input>", line 1, in ?
AttributeError: 'tuple' object has no attribute 'index'
>>> "z" in t           
1

	You can’t add elements to a tuple. Tuples have no `append` or `extend` method.
	You can’t remove elements from a tuple. Tuples have no `remove` or `pop` method.
	You can’t find elements in a tuple. Tuples have no `index` method.
	You can, however, use `in` to see if an element exists in the tuple.

So what are tuples good for?

Tuples are faster than lists. If you’re defining a constant set of values and all you’re ever going to do with it is iterate through it, use a tuple instead of a list.
Remember I said that dictionary keys can be integers, strings, and “a few other types”? Tuples are one of those types. Tuples can be used as keys in a dictionary, but lists can’t.^[2]
Tuples are used in string formatting, as we’ll see shortly.


	Tuples can be converted into lists, and vice-versa. The built-in `tuple` function takes a list and returns a tuple with the same elements, and the `list` function takes a tuple and returns a list. In effect, `tuple` freezes a list, and `list` thaws a tuple.

Further reading

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist teaches about tuples and shows how to concatenate tuples.
Python Knowledge Base shows how to sort a tuple.
Python Tutorial shows how to define a tuple with one element.

Footnotes

^[2]Actually, it’s more complicated than that. Dictionary keys must be immutable. Tuples themselves are immutable, but if you have a tuple of lists, that counts as mutable and isn’t safe to use as a dictionary key. Only tuples of strings, numbers, or other dictionary-safe tuples can be used as dictionary keys.