Tuples in Python

1. Introduction to Tuples

A tuple is an ordered collection of elements enclosed in parentheses (). Tuples can contain elements of different data types.

Tuples are immutable — once created, their elements cannot be changed, added, or removed.

2. Creating Tuples

# Empty tuple
empty = ()

# Single-element tuple (note the trailing comma)
single = (5,)

# Tuple of integers
numbers = (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

# Mixed data types
mixed = (10, "Hello", 3.14, True)

# Without parentheses (tuple packing)
packed = 1, 2, 3

# Using tuple() constructor
chars = tuple("Python")  # ('P', 'y', 't', 'h', 'o', 'n')

3. Tuple Indexing

tup = (10, 20, 30, 40, 50)
# Index:   0   1   2   3   4
# Neg:   -5  -4  -3  -2  -1

print(tup[0])   # 10
print(tup[2])   # 30
print(tup[-1])  # 50 (last element)
print(tup[-3])  # 30

4. Tuple Slicing

tup = (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
print(tup[2:6])     # (2, 3, 4, 5)
print(tup[:4])      # (0, 1, 2, 3)
print(tup[5:])      # (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
print(tup[::2])     # (0, 2, 4, 6, 8)
print(tup[::-1])    # (9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0)

5. Tuples are Immutable

tup = (1, 2, 3)
# tup[0] = 10  # TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment
# tup.append(4)  # AttributeError: 'tuple' object has no attribute 'append'

# But if a tuple contains a mutable object like a list, that object can be modified
tup = (1, [2, 3], 4)
tup[1].append(5)
print(tup)  # (1, [2, 3, 5], 4)

6. Tuple Operators

# Concatenation (+)
a = (1, 2, 3)
b = (4, 5, 6)
print(a + b)  # (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

# Repetition (*)
print((0,) * 5)  # (0, 0, 0, 0, 0)

# Membership (in)
print(3 in a)   # True
print(7 not in a)  # True

7. Tuple Methods

Tuples have only two built-in methods:

Other useful built-in functions: len(), max(), min(), sum(), sorted(), any(), all().

8. Tuple Packing and Unpacking

# Packing
coordinates = 10, 20, 30
print(coordinates)  # (10, 20, 30)

# Unpacking
x, y, z = coordinates
print(x, y, z)  # 10 20 30

# Swapping using tuple unpacking
a, b = 5, 10
a, b = b, a
print(a, b)  # 10 5

9. Nested Tuples

nested = ((1, 2), (3, 4), (5, 6))
print(nested[0])     # (1, 2)
print(nested[1][1])  # 4

# Traversing nested tuple
for inner in nested:
    for element in inner:
        print(element, end=" ")
    print()

10. List vs Tuple Comparison