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Python Tuples(advanced)

Introduction Reading Time: 10 min

Table of Contents

Description

A tuple is an immutable, ordered collection of items. Beyond basics, advanced tuple concepts include:
Tuple packing/unpacking
Nested tuples
Tuples as dictionary keys
Enumerate with tuples
Using zip() with tuples
Immutability use-cases
Named tuples

Prerequisites

  • Basic knowledge of:
    Tuple creation and indexing
    Lists and loops
    Dictionaries
    Functions and argument unpacking

Examples

Here's a simple program in Python:

✅ Tuple Packing and Unpacking
# Packing
person = ("Alice", 25, "Engineer")

# Unpacking
name, age, profession = person
print(name)       # Alice
print(profession) # Engineer
✅ Nested Tuples
# Tuple inside another tuple
data = ("Python", (3, 8, 10))

# Access inner tuple's 2nd element
print(data[1][1])  # Output: 8
✅ Tuple as Dictionary Key
# Tuples can be dictionary keys because they are immutable
coordinates = {}

# Assign a value to a tuple key
coordinates[(10, 20)] = "Location A"
print(coordinates[(10, 20)])  # Location A
✅ Using enumerate() with Tuples
# Enumerate returns (index, value) pairs as tuples
fruits = ("apple", "banana", "mango")

for index, fruit in enumerate(fruits):
    print(index, fruit)
# Output:
# 0 apple
# 1 banana
# 2 mango
✅ Using zip() to Create Tuples
names = ["A", "B"]
scores = [90, 95]

# zip creates tuple pairs
result = tuple(zip(names, scores))
print(result)  # (('A', 90), ('B', 95))
✅ Tuples in Function Arguments
def display_info(*args):
    # args is a tuple of arguments
    for item in args:
        print(item)

display_info("Python", 3.10, "Stable")
✅ Named Tuples (from collections)
from collections import namedtuple

# Define a named tuple
Person = namedtuple("Person", "name age")

# Create a person object
p1 = Person(name="Alice", age=25)

# Access by name
print(p1.name)  # Alice

Real-World Applications

Representing coordinate points, RGB values, and fixed data

Using tuples as keys in caches (like LRU or memoization)

Storing multi-value immutable records (e.g., DB rows)

Fast and memory-efficient alternative to lists

Where topic Can Be Applied

Data science: Tuple returns in NumPy, Pandas

APIs: Unchanging data like configurations, credentials

AI/ML: Storing fixed-length vectors or hyperparameters

Web dev: URL pattern definitions (e.g., ("GET", "/api/user"))>

Resources

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Interview Questions

Why are tuples immutable?

Can tuples be used as dictionary keys?

What is tuple unpacking?

What is a namedtuple and when should it be used?

Difference between a tuple and a list?

How is *args related to tuples in Python?