Tuples - An Immutable Derived Datatype

Some documents that have unique numbers (passport, driving license, voter id, and the pixels of an image) that cannot/should not be changed. Such elements are stored in a set that satisfies all the requirements known as a tuple.

In this article, you will learn the different operations where we use a tuple.

What is a tuple in Python?

So, it's basically a sequence of different elements that we access via unpacking or indexing.

More clearly, a collection of objects in a round bracket in python and separated by a comma is known as a tuple. Doesn't it seem like 'list?'

Then what is the difference between list and tuple?

A list and tuple are the same in some ways when it's related to indexing, nested objects, and repetition. Even if we don't use any brackets, it becomes a tuple. However, a tuple is immutable and lists are mutable.

Example:

#Creating an empty tuple
empty_tuple = ()
print(empty_tuple)

Output
()

non-empty tuple

#one way of creating
tup = ('Data', 'Science')
print(tup)

Output
('Data', 'Science')

#another way of creating
tup = 'Data', 'Science'
print(tup)

Output
('Data', 'Science')

Creating Immutable tuple

An example shown below is that the item assignment is not possible.

| #testing that tuples are immutable

tuple_1 = (5, 6, 8, 12)
tuple_1[0] = 'Numbers'
print(tuple_1)

Output
TypeError Traceback(most recent call last)
Input In [10], in <cell line: 4>()
1# testing that tuples are immutable
3 tuple_1 = (5, 6, 8, 12)
--->4 tuple_1[0] = 'Numbers'
5 print(tuple_1)

TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment |

How to perform basic operations in a tuple?

In a tuple, there are several ways to do the basic operations. Let's take a look at each one individually with examples.

Tuple Concatenation

Since the tuple is immutable, you cannot change any value in the tuple element. But, you can combine two tuples as a single tuple which is called _ tuple concatenation _.

Example:

#creating two tuple

tuple1 = 5, 6, 7, 8
tuple2 = ('data', 'science', 'python', 'class')

#concatination of tuple

print(tuple1 + tuple2)

Output
(5, 6, 7, 8, 'data', 'science', 'python', 'class') |

Repeating Tuple

If you need any value in a tuple to be repeated, you just need to multiply it by several times.

Example:

| # Creating tuple with repetition

tuple_repeat = ('How are you? ')*5
print(tuple_repeat)

Output
How are you? How are you? How are you? How are you? How are you? |

Slicing Tuple

A slicing is retrieving a particular portion for some operation while the initial data remains unaffected. The operation of slicing in python considers three parameters of which two are depending on the operational requirement.

Example:

| # Slicing of tuple

tuple = (10, 30, 50, 87, 63)
print(tuple[1 :])
print(tuple[: : -1])
print(tuple[2:5])

Output
(30, 50, 87, 63)
(63, 87, 50, 30, 10)
(50, 87, 63)

Finding the length of the Tuple

You can find out the length of values inside a tuple by using the 'len' option.

Example:

| # Finding the length of tuple

tuple_length = (5, 6, 7, 8, 'data', 'science', 'python', 'class')
print(len(tuple_length))

Output
8

Basic functions to use while executing a code in the tuple

• len() – you can find the length in a tuple
  
• min() – you can find the min value in a tuple
  
• max()– you can find the max value in a tuple
  
• count() – you can find the number of occurrences in a tuple
  
• index() – you can find the index value of a tuple
  

Note : Count and index are not functions, they are the methods

Example:

#length, minimum, maximum, count and index of tuple
tuple = (10, 30, 50, 87, 63, 10, 87)
print('Length of the tuple: ', len(tuple))
print('Minimum of the tuple: ', min(tuple))
print('Maximum of the tuple: ', max(tuple))
print('Count of 87: ', tuple.count(87))
index = tuple.index(63)
print('Index of 63: ', index)

Output
Length of the tuple: 7
Minimum of the tuple: 10
Maximum of the tuple: 87
Count of 87: 2
Index of 63: 4 |

Sorting of tuple

By using the sort() method you can sort a tuple. When sorting by this method the real content of the tuple is changed and the in-place method of the sort is performed.

Example:

#Sorting a list of tuples by the second item using sort()

#Function for sorting the list by the second item of tuple |

def Sort_Tuple(tup_1)

#reverse = None(Sorting in ascending order)
#keyissetforsortingusingthesecondelementof
#sublistlambdaisused
tup_1.sort(key = lambda a: a[1])
returntup_1

#Driver Code
tup_1 = [('Avni', 10), ('Akash', 5), ('Avinash', 20), ('Arvind', 15)]

#printthesortedlistoftuples
print(Sort_Tuple(tup_1))

Output
[('Akash', 5), ('Avni', 10), ('Arvind', 15), ('Avinash', 20)] |

Nesting of tuples

We use the '+' operator when we need to concatenate tuples to nested tuples. Accessing the index elements and trying to make any changes will give an error. We use ''+' for both nesting and concatenating operations.

Example:

| first_tuple_1 = (5, 8, 4, 4, 7, 1),
second_tuple_2 = (9, 5, 3, 2, 1, 8),

print("The first tuple consists: ")
print(first_tuple_1)
print("The second tuple consists: ")
print(second_tuple_2)

joint_result = first_tuple_1 + second_tuple_2

print("The tuple after concatenating: ")
print(joint_result)

Output
The first tuple consists:
((5, 8, 4, 4, 7, 1),)
The Second tuple consists:
((9, 5, 3, 2, 1, 8),)
The tuple after concatenating:
((5, 8, 4, 4, 7, 1), (9, 5, 3, 2, 1, 8)) |

Take away

Let us summarize in simple words, a tuple is a set where you cannot make any changes. In other words, it is immutable. With the above explanations and examples, you would have got a better understanding and ease to work on tuples. If you are looking for a best-in-class resource to learn python or understand each concept in detail for data science applications, you can check out the data science course with special python-support with top-class trainers. In case you are just exploring python as a beginner, follow us on Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin, Twitter.