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Python: Working with Tuples

Updated On: Sep 17, 2022

A tuple represents a sequence of any objects separated by commas and enclosed in parentheses. A tuple is an immutable object, which means it cannot be changed, and we use it to represent fixed collections of items.

Creating a Tuple

Creating a tuple is very similar to creating a list, unlike the lists where the values are enclosed with in the brackets, tuples use parenthesis.

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

print(week)

Output:

('Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday', 'Saturday')

Accessing items in a Tuple

You can access an item in a tuple in the same way you do with lists:

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

print(week[1]) # Prints Monday

Similar to list, we can also use negative indexes for accessing the elements from reverse order.

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

print(week[-1])  # Prints Saturday

Looping through a Tuple

Here is how to iterate through a tuple:

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

for day in week:
    print(day)

Output:

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

Check if Item Exists in Tuple

You can check if an item exists in a tuple like this:

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

print("Monday" in week)
print("Sat" in week)

Output:

True
False

Tuple Length

Get the length of a tuple using the built-in len function:

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

print(len(week))

Output:

7

Combine Multiple Tuples

Even though tuples are immutable, you can still combine them to create a third entirely new tuple. This is how:

na = ("USA", "Canada", "Mexico")
eu = ("UK", "France", "Germany")

countries = na + eu
print(countries)

Output:

('USA', 'Canada', 'Mexico', 'UK', 'France', 'Germany')

Converting a Tuple into a List

When the situation arises that you indeed must make changes to the tuple, Python gives you the option to convert it to a list instead. Use the list() function to do just that:

week = ("Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday",
        "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday")

print(week)
week_list = list(week)
print(week_list)

Output:

('Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday', 'Saturday')
['Sunday', 'Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday', 'Saturday']

The second output enclosed with in the brackets indicate that it is a list and not a tuple!