Elixir v1.6.1 Tuple View Source
Functions for working with tuples.
Tuples are composite data types with a fixed number of elements. Tuples can contain elements of any type, and a tuple can contain elements of different types. Curly braces can be used to create tuples:
iex> {}
{}
iex> {1, :two, "three"}
{1, :two, "three"}Tuples store elements contiguously in memory. This means accessing a
tuple element by index doesn’t depend on the number of elements in the
tuple. We say the operation is done in constant-time, via the
Kernel.elem/1 function:
iex> tuple = {1, :two, "three"}
iex> elem(tuple, 0)
1
iex> elem(tuple, 2)
"three"Same goes for getting the tuple size with Kernel.tuple_size/1:
iex> tuple_size({})
0
iex> tuple_size({1, 2, 3})
3Tuples being stored contiguously in memory also means that updating a tuple
(for example replacing an element with Kernel.put_elem/3) will make a
shallow copy of the whole tuple. The tuple elements are still shared thanks
to immutability.
Tuples are not meant to be used as a “collection” type but rather as a
fixed-size container for multiple elements. That’s why it is not possible
to traverse a tuple dynamically using the functions in the Enum module.
For example, tuples are often used to have functions return “enriched”
values: a common pattern is for functions to return {:ok, value} for
successful cases and {:error, reason} for unsuccessful cases. This is
exactly what File.read/1 does: it returns {:ok, contents} if reading
the given file is successful, or {:error, reason} otherwise, such as
when the file does not exist.
The most common operations performed on tuples are available in Kernel
(Kernel.tuple_size/1, Kernel.elem/2, Kernel.put_elem/3, and others)
and are automatically imported into your code. The functions in this module
cover other cases, such as dynamic creation of tuples (Tuple.duplicate/2)
and conversion to list (Tuple.to_list/1). The functions that add and remove
elements from tuples, changing their size, are rarely used in practice, as
they typically imply tuples are being used as collections. Even if you have
a tuple {:ok, atom} and you want to append another element to it, such as
an empty map, it is preferrable to rely on pattern matching and create a new
tuple than manipulating it dynamically:
tuple = {:ok, :example}
# Avoid
Tuple.insert_at(tuple, 2, %{}}
# Prefer
{:ok, atom} = tuple
{:ok, atom, %{}}Link to this section Summary
Functions
Inserts an element at the end of a tuple
Removes an element from a tuple
Creates a new tuple
Inserts an element into a tuple
Converts a tuple to a list
Link to this section Functions
Inserts an element at the end of a tuple.
Returns a new tuple with the element appended at the end, and contains
the elements in tuple followed by value as the last element.
Inlined by the compiler.
Examples
iex> tuple = {:foo, :bar}
iex> Tuple.append(tuple, :baz)
{:foo, :bar, :baz}delete_at(tuple(), non_neg_integer()) :: tuple()
Removes an element from a tuple.
Deletes the element at the given index from tuple.
Raises an ArgumentError if index is negative or greater than
or equal to the length of tuple. Index is zero-based.
Inlined by the compiler.
Examples
iex> tuple = {:foo, :bar, :baz}
iex> Tuple.delete_at(tuple, 0)
{:bar, :baz}duplicate(term(), non_neg_integer()) :: tuple()
Creates a new tuple.
Creates a tuple of size containing the
given data at every position.
Inlined by the compiler.
Examples
iex> Tuple.duplicate(:hello, 3)
{:hello, :hello, :hello}insert_at(tuple(), non_neg_integer(), term()) :: tuple()
Inserts an element into a tuple.
Inserts value into tuple at the given index.
Raises an ArgumentError if index is negative or greater than the
length of tuple. Index is zero-based.
Inlined by the compiler.
Examples
iex> tuple = {:bar, :baz}
iex> Tuple.insert_at(tuple, 0, :foo)
{:foo, :bar, :baz}
iex> Tuple.insert_at(tuple, 2, :bong)
{:bar, :baz, :bong}