Welcome back to the Python Tutorial Series for Beginners! 🎉

In Lesson 5, we explored lists – how to create them, modify them, slice them, and use common methods.

Now in Lesson 6, we’re diving into tuples – another way of grouping data in Python.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll understand:

• What tuples are and how they differ from lists
• How to create and use tuples
• Accessing tuple elements
• Tuple unpacking
• When to use tuples vs lists
• Practical beginner exercises

🔹 What is a Tuple?

A tuple is very similar to a list – it can store multiple items, even of different data types.

👉 The big difference: Tuples are immutable (you cannot change them once created).

# Examples of tuples

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
numbers = (10, 20, 30, 40)
mixed = ("Python", 3.14, True, 42)

• Tuples use parentheses ()
• They can contain different data types
• They are ordered and immutable

🔹 1. Accessing Tuple Elements

Just like lists, tuples are indexed (starting from 0).

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

print(fruits[0])   # First item → apple
print(fruits[-1])  # Last item → cherry

🔹 2. Tuples are Immutable

Once you create a tuple, you cannot change its elements.

fruits = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")

# This will cause an error ❌
fruits[1] = "orange"

If you need to modify data, use a list instead.

🔹 3. Creating a Tuple with One Item

To create a tuple with just one item, you must include a trailing comma.

one_item = ("apple",)   # ✅ Correct
not_a_tuple = ("apple") # ❌ This is just a string
 

🔹 4. Tuple Unpacking

You can assign tuple elements directly into variables.

person = ("John", 25, "Developer")

name, age, job = person

print(name)  # John
print(age)   # 25
print(job)   # Developer

🔹 5. Using Tuples in Python

Why use tuples instead of lists?

• ✅ Performance: Tuples use less memory and are faster
• ✅ Data integrity: Tuples are read-only, so they’re safer for fixed collections
• ✅ Hashable: Tuples can be used as keys in dictionaries, lists cannot

Example:

locations = {
   (6.5244, 3.3792): "Lagos",
   (51.5072, -0.1276): "London"
}

print(locations[(6.5244, 3.3792)])  # Lagos

🔹 Exercises for Beginners

Try these in a new file (lesson6.py):

1. Create a tuple of your 3 favorite colors and print the second one.
2. Try modifying an element in the tuple – what happens?
3. Create a tuple with one element (be careful with the comma).
4. Use tuple unpacking to assign values (“Python”, 3.10, “Cool”) to three variables.
5. Challenge: Create a dictionary that uses tuples as keys (e.g., coordinates → city name).

🎯 Recap

In this lesson, you learned:
✅ Tuples are like lists but immutable
✅ You can access elements by index
✅ You can unpack tuples into variables
✅ Tuples are great for fixed collections and dictionary keys

Next up: Lesson 7 – Dictionaries in Python 🗂️ (key-value pairs you’ll use everywhere in coding).