Tuple

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by kmguru, Mar 28, 2002.

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  1. kmguru Staff Member

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    In case you guys forgot....

    Tuple

    1) In programming languages, such as LISP, Python, Linda, and others,
    a tuple (pronounced TUH-pul) is an ordered set of values. The
    separator for each value is often a comma (depending on the rules of
    the particular language). Common uses for the tuple as a data type
    are (1) for passing a string of parameters from one program to
    another, and (2) representing a set of value attributes in a
    relational database. In some languages, tuples can be nested within
    other tuples within parentheses or brackets or other delimiters.
    Tuples can contain a mixture of other data types.
    Here's an example of a tuple that emphasizes the different data types
    that may exist within a tuple data type:

    17,*,2.49,Seven

    The above example is sometimes referred to as a 4-tuple, since it
    contains four values. An n-tuple would be one with an indeterminate
    or unspecified number of values.

    2) A tuple is analogous to a record in nonrelational databases.
    The term originated as an abstraction of the sequence: single,
    double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, ... n-tuple. Tuple is used in
    abstract mathematics to denote a multidimensional coordinate system.
     
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