TypeError tuple indices must be integers or slices not tuple

TypeError tuple indices must be integers or slices not tuple #

The Python "TypeError: tuple indices must be integers or slices, not tuple" occurs when we use a tuple instead of an integer when accessing a tuple at index. To solve the error, correct the assignment or use a colon if trying to get a slice of a tuple.

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

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my_tuple = (('a', 'b'), ('c', 'd'))

# ⛔️ TypeError: tuple indices must be integers or slices, not tuple
result = my_tuple[0, 1]

We passed a tuple between the square brackets when trying to access the item at a specific index.

If trying to get an element in a nested tuple, access the nested tuple using square brackets, and use square brackets again to access the specific element.

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my_tuple = (('a', 'b'), ('c', 'd'))

print(my_tuple[0][0])  # 👉️ 'a'
print(my_tuple[0][1])  # 👉️ 'b'

We access the first tuple (index 0) with the first set of square brackets and then access the nested tuple at a specific index.

If you need to get a slice of a tuple, use a colon to separate the start and end indices.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e')

print(my_tuple[0:3])  # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c')

print(my_tuple[3:])  # 👉️ ('d', 'e')

The start index is inclusive, whereas the end index is exclusive (up to, but not including).

If you need to access multiple, unrelated tuple items, access them separately.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e')

first = my_tuple[0]
print(first)  # 👉️ 'a'

second = my_tuple[1]
print(second)  # 👉️ 'b'

In case you declared a tuple by mistake, tuples are constructed in multiple ways:

• Using a pair of parenthesis () creates an empty tuple
• Using a trailing comma - a, or (a,)
• Separating items with commas - a, b or (a, b)
• Using the tuple() constructor

If you use numpy and are trying to access a nested tuple with two indices, make sure to convert the tuple to a numpy array first.

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import numpy as np

my_tuple = (('a', 'b'), ('c', 'd'), ('e', 'f'))


arr = np.array(my_tuple)


result = arr[:, 0]
print(result)  # 👉️ ['a', 'c', 'e']

The example shows how to get the first item from each nested tuple in the array.

If you aren't sure what type of object a variable stores, use the type() class.

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my_tuple = 0, 1

print(type(my_tuple))  # 👉️ <class 'tuple'>
print(isinstance(my_tuple, tuple))  # 👉️ True

my_list = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']

print(type(my_list))  # 👉️ <class 'list'>
print(isinstance(my_list, list))  # 👉️ True

The type class returns the type of an object.

The isinstance function returns True if the passed in object is an instance or a subclass of the passed in class.