What is a tuple?

Tuples are very similar to lists, but it is unable to be changed (immutable). This provides a tiny performance and memory savings. More importantly provides a hint to the interpreter and some code protection when you know a data structure shouldn't be changing.

The difference in performance is not something you should code for unless you are working with extremely large datasets. The fact they are immutable is the main reason to use tuples over a list.

The syntax of a tuple is almost exactly like a list, except you use ( ) instead of [ ].

List

['Bob Jones', 'Manager', 'Denver']

Tuple

('Bob Jones', 'Manager', 'Denver')

What is a named tuple

A named tuple is a module from the collection class that allows you to name the elements in a tuple so they can act as a lightweight class or enum.

Example Usage

from collections import namedtuple
Employee = namedtuple('Employee', ['name', 'role', 'location'])
bob = Employee('Bob Jones', 'Manager', 'Denver')
print(bob.name)

collections is a default package and you do not need to install it, but you will need to import it. Accessing the name of an Employee data set is really easy and readable. It makes for easier to read code and fewer bugs and is very lightweight. In some text editors/IDEs it can also provide code insight and auto-completion.

If you have objects that should not be changing and don't require methods (class functions) then tuples are likely are a better choice than a list.