TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment

TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment #

The Python "TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment" occurs when we try to change the value of an item in a tuple. To solve the error, convert the tuple to a list, change the item at the specific index and convert the list back to a tuple.

Here is an example of how the error occurs.

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

# ⛔️ TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment
my_tuple[0] = 'z'

It isn't possible to assign to individual items of a tuple, so we have to convert the tuple to a list first.

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

# 👇️ convert tuple to list
my_list = list(my_tuple)
print(my_list)  # 👉️ ['a', 'b', 'c']

# 👇️ update item
my_list[0] = 'z'

# 👇️ convert list back to tuple
my_tuple = tuple(my_list)

print(my_tuple)  # 👉️ ('z', 'b', 'c')

We used the list() class to convert a tuple into a list.

Once we have a list, we can update the item at the specific index and optionally convert the result back into a tuple.

Alternatively, you can declare a list from the beginning by wrapping the elements in square brackets (not parenthesis).

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

my_list[0] = 'z'
print(my_list)  # 👉️ ['z', 'b', 'c']

my_list.append('d')
print(my_list)  # 👉️ ['z', 'b', 'c', 'd']

my_list.insert(0, '.')

print(my_list)  # 👉️ ['.', 'z', 'b', 'c', 'd']

Declaring a list from the beginning is much more efficient if you have to change the values in the collection often.

Tuples are intended to store values that never change.

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