Understanding Tuple Packing and Unpacking

In Python, a tuple is an immutable sequence of elements. When we group multiple values together into a tuple and assign them to a single variable, this is known as packing.

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

Conversely, we can extract these values from the tuple and assign them to individual variables. This process is known as unpacking.

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

(green, yellow, red) = fruits

print(green)
print(yellow)
print(red)

Note: The number of variables must match the number of items in the tuple. Otherwise, Python will raise a ValueError.

Using the Asterisk (*) in Tuple Unpacking

If you need to unpack only a few values while collecting the rest into a list, Python allows the use of an asterisk (*) before a variable name.

Example – Collect Remaining Items as a List:

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

(green, yellow, *red) = fruits

print(green)
print(yellow)
print(red)

The variable red becomes a list containing the remaining items after the first two values.

Advanced Example – Asterisk in the Middle:

fruits = ("apple", "mango", "papaya", "pineapple", "cherry")

(green, *tropic, red) = fruits

print(green)
print(tropic)
print(red)

Here, tropic receives all middle values, leaving the first and last elements assigned to green and red respectively.