What are “named tuples” in Python?

Question

Reading the changes in Python 3.1, I found something... unexpected:

The sys.version_info tuple is now a named tuple:

Answer 1

Try this:

collections.namedtuple()

Basically, namedtuples are easy to create, lightweight object types. They turn tuples into convenient containers for simple tasks. With namedtuples, you don’t have to use integer indices for accessing members of a tuple.

Examples:

Code 1:

>>> from collections import namedtuple

>>> Point = namedtuple('Point','x,y')

>>> pt1 = Point(1,2)

>>> pt2 = Point(3,4)

>>> dot_product = ( pt1.x * pt2.x ) +( pt1.y * pt2.y )

>>> print dot_product
11

Code 2:

>>> from collections import namedtuple

>>> Car = namedtuple('Car','Price Mileage Colour Class')

>>> xyz = Car(Price = 100000, Mileage = 30, Colour = 'Cyan', Class = 'Y')

>>> print xyz

Car(Price=100000, Mileage=30, Colour='Cyan', Class='Y')
>>> print xyz.Class
Y