Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment

April 19, 2023 by glay eliver

One of the errors we encounter, when we try to change the value of tuple item, is Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment.

This error can be fixed in either of the following approaches:

Convert the tuple to a list and back to a tuple

Use tuple concatenation to create a new tuple
Use named tuples from the collections module

Furthermore in this guide, we will tackle why this error occurs, as well as practical example codes for better understanding.

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Now let’s know this error…

What is Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment?

The “TypeError: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment” occurs when we attempt 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.

Why Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment?

The reason why we get a “Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment” error in Python is that tuples are immutable objects, which means their content cannot be changed after creation.

Every time we try to modify or assign a value to an element within a tuple using the assignment operator…

Essentially we are trying to change the content of an immutable object, which is not possible in Python.

As a result, in a type error, telling you that tuples do not support item assignment.

Here is how this error occurs:

my_tuple = ('it', 'source', 'code')

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

In this code when we try to update an element in a tuple, but tuple objects are immutable which caused an error.

Traceback (most recent call last):
File “C:\Users\Windows\PycharmProjects\pythonProject1\main.py”, line 4, in
my_tuple[0] = ‘c’
TypeError: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment

Now that we understand what is this error and why this error occurs, let’s proceed to solutions to this error.

How to fix Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment

Technically, there are different ways to solve the “Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment” error in Python.

Here are three possible solutions with example codes and their explanations.

Solution 1: Convert the tuple to a list and back to a tuple

One way to fix the error is to convert the tuple to a list, make the needed modifications, and then convert it back to a tuple.

Here is an example code:

# Define a tuple
my_tuple = ('IT', 'SOURCECODE', 'WELCOME')

# Convert the tuple to a list
my_list = list(my_tuple)

# Modify the second element of the list
my_list[1] = 'SOURCECODERS!'

# Convert the list back to a tuple
my_tuple = tuple(my_list)

# Print the modified tuple
print(my_tuple)

Output:

(‘IT’, ‘SOURCECODERS!’, ‘WELCOME’)

Solution 2: Use tuple concatenation to create a new tuple

Another way to fix the error is to create a new tuple that contains the modified values of the original tuple.

Here is an example code:

# Define a tuple
my_tuple = ('IT', 'SOURCECODE', 'Howdy')

# Create a new tuple with the modified value
new_tuple = (my_tuple[0], 'SOURCECODERS!', my_tuple[2])

# Print the modified tuple
print(new_tuple)

In this example, we define a tuple called my_tuple containing three elements.

We then create a new tuple called new_tuple that contains the first and third elements of my_tuple and a modified value for the second element.

Output:

(‘IT’, ‘SOURCECODERS!’, ‘Howdy’)

Solution 3: Use named tuples from the collections module

A third way to fix the error is to use named tuples from the collections module.

Named tuples are similar to tuples, but they allow you to access their elements by name instead of index.

Here is an example code:

from collections import namedtuple

# Define a named tuple
MyTuple = namedtuple('MyTuple', ['Howdy', 'IT', 'SOURCECODE'])

# Create an instance of the named tuple
my_tuple = MyTuple(1, 2, 3)

# Modify the second element of the named tuple
my_tuple = my_tuple._replace(IT='SOURCODERS')

# Print the modified tuple
print(my_tuple)

In this example, we define a named tuple called MyTuple with three named elements. We then create an instance of the named tuple called my_tuple with three values.

We modify the value of the second element using the _replace() method, which creates a new named tuple with the same values as the original one but with the specified element replaced.

Output:

MyTuple(Howdy=1, IT=’SOURCODERS’, SOURCECODE=3)

Note that using named tuples may be overkill for simple cases. However, they can be useful when you need to work with tuples that have a large number of elements.

Thus, when you need to keep track of the meaning of each element.

Anyhow, if you are finding solutions to some errors you might encounter we also have Typeerror: unhashable type: ‘slice’.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Python error Typeerror: ‘tuple’ object does not support item assignment is able to fixed through converting the tuple to a list and back to a tuple, using tuple concatenation to create a new tuple, and using named tuples from the collections module.

Any of the approaches can fix the error depending on your error.

We hope this guide has helped you! 😊