Tuples
Similar to a list, a tuple is an object that contains multiple data items. However, these items are "immutable" - which means they CANNOT be changed during a program's execution. In Python, we write tuples with round brackets (paratheses).
Note the >>> prompt in the examples below indicates that they are running in the PYTHON shell using the "interactive" mode.
Creating a tuple.
>>>thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
>>>print(thistuple)
('apple', 'banana', 'cherry')
You can access tuple items by referring to the index number, inside square brackets, similar to how you would access items in a list.
>>>thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
>>>print(thistuple[1])
banana
You can specify a range of indexes similar to what you do with lists.
When specifying a range, the return value will be a new tuple with the specified items.
>>>thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
>>>print(thistuple[2:5])
('cherry', 'orange', 'kiwi')
Keep in mind tuples are immutable or unchangeable. So you cannot change its values once it's created.
>>>x = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
>>>x[1] = "kiwi"
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "
x[1] = "kiwi"
TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment
You can, however, convert a tuple into a list using the list() function, modify the values, then convert it back into a tuple using the tuple() function.
>>>x = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
>>>y = list(x)
>>>y[1] = "kiwi"
>>>x = tuple(y)
>>>print(x)
('apple', 'kiwi', 'cherry')