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2.0 Python: Access Tuples

1.1 Access Tuples Items

You can access tuple items by referring to the index number, inside square brackets:

1.1.1 Example

Print the second item in the tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(thistuple[1])
note

The first item has index 0.


1.2 Negative Indexing

Negative indexing means start from the end.

-1 refers to the last item, -2 refers to the second last item etc.

1.2.1 Example

Print the last item of the tuple:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry")
print(thistuple[-1])

1.3 Range of Indexes

You can specify a range of indexes by specifying where to start and where to end the range.

When specifying a range, the return value will be a new tuple with the specified items.

1.3.1 Example

Return the third, fourth, and fifth item:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
print(thistuple[2:5])
note

The search will start at index 2 (included) and end at index 5 (not included).

By leaving out the start value, the range will start at the first item:

1.3.2 Example

This example returns the items from the beginning to, but NOT included, "kiwi":

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
print(thistuple[:4])

By leaving out the end value, the range will go on to the end of the tuple:

1.3.3 Example

This example returns the items from "cherry" and to the end:

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
print(thistuple[2:])

1.4 Range of Negative Indexes

Specify negative indexes if you want to start the search from the end of the tuple:

1.4.1 Example

This example returns the items from index -4 (included) to index -1 (excluded)

thistuple = ("apple", "banana", "cherry", "orange", "kiwi", "melon", "mango")
print(thistuple[-4:-1])

1.5 Check if Item Exists

To determine if a specified item is present in a tuple use the in keyword:

1.5.1 Example

Check if "apple" is present in the tuple:

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

if "apple" in thistuple:
print("Yes, apple is in the fruits tuple")