5.3 元组（Tuples）和序列（Sequences ）Tuples and Sequences

We saw that lists and strings have many common properties, such as indexing and slicing operations. They are two examples of sequence data types. Since Python is an evolving language, other sequence data types may be added. There is also another standard sequence data type: the tuple.

我们知道链表和字符串有很多通用的属性，例如索引和切片操作。它们是序列类型中的两种。因为Python是一个在不停进化的语言，也可能会加入其它的序列类型，这里有另一种标准序列类型：元组。

>>> t = 12345, 54321, 'hello!'
>>> t[0]
12345
>>> t
(12345, 54321, 'hello!')
>>> # Tuples may be nested:
... u = t, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
>>> u
((12345, 54321, 'hello!'), (1, 2, 3, 4, 5))

As you see, on output tuples are alway enclosed in parentheses, so that nested tuples are interpreted correctly; they may be input with or without surrounding parentheses, although often parentheses are necessary anyway (if the tuple is part of a larger expression).

如你所见，元组在输出时总是有括号的，以便于正确表达嵌套结构。在输入时可能有或没有括号都可以，不过经常括号都是必须的（如果元组是一个更大的表达式的一部分）。

Tuples have many uses. For example: (x, y) coordinate pairs, employee records from a database, etc. Tuples, like strings, are immutable: it is not possible to assign to the individual items of a tuple (you can simulate much of the same effect with slicing and concatenation, though). It is also possible to create tuples which contain mutable objects, such as lists.

元组有很多用途。例如（x, y）坐标点，数据库中的员工记录等等。元组就像字符串，不可改变：不能给元组的一个独立的元素赋值（尽管你可以通过联接和切片来模仿）。也可以通过包含可变对象来创建元组，例如链表。

A special problem is the construction of tuples containing 0 or 1 items: the syntax has some extra quirks to accommodate these. Empty tuples are constructed by an empty pair of parentheses; a tuple with one item is constructed by following a value with a comma (it is not sufficient to enclose a single value in parentheses). Ugly, but effective. For example:

一个特殊的问题是构造包含零个或一个元素的元组：为了适应这种情况，语法上有一些额外的改变。一对空的括号可以创建空元组；要创建一个单元素元组可以在值后面跟一个逗号（在括号中放入一个单值是不够的）。丑陋，但是有效。例如：

>>> empty = ()
>>> singleton = 'hello',    # <-- note trailing comma
>>> len(empty)
0
>>> len(singleton)
1
>>> singleton
('hello',)

The statement t = 12345, 54321, 'hello!' is an example of tuple packing: the values 12345, 54321 and 'hello!' are packed together in a tuple. The reverse operation is also possible:

语句 t = 12345, 54321, 'hello!' 是元组封装（sequence packing）的一个例子：值 12345， 54321 和 'hello!' 被封装进元组。其逆操作可能是这样：

>>> x, y, z = t

This is called, appropriately enough, sequence unpacking. Sequence unpacking requires that the list of variables on the left have the same number of elements as the length of the sequence. Note that multiple assignment is really just a combination of tuple packing and sequence unpacking!

这个调用被称为序列拆封非常合适。序列拆封要求左侧的变量数目与序列的元素个数相同。要注意的是可变参数（multiple assignment ）其实只是元组封装和序列拆封的一个结合！

There is a small bit of asymmetry here: packing multiple values always creates a tuple, and unpacking works for any sequence.

这里有一点不对称：封装多重参数通常会创建一个元组，而拆封操作可以作用于任何序列。