We Keep Coding

How to apply some operation to each element of a tuple

I have a tuple like (p1, p2) (for example (5,3) or (2,1))
I want to apply the same operation to each element of the tuple. (Incidentally this operation will give for each element another tuple, so I will have a tuple of tuples but this is not a necessary condition)
First I thought something like
for element in (3,2):
res=function(element)
but first, this doesn't seem a elegant solution and two, I would still have to form a tuple from each res to get a (function(3),function(2)) solution
How can I apply a function (with several arguments) to each element of the tuple once and get a tuple of returned values?

If I understand you question correctly, map should to the job as well:
tuple(map(func, tpl))
where func is a one-argument function you defined.
Now, if you have a function with several arguments you would like to apply to each element, like:
def func(x, y, z): return x*y+z
I assume that 2 elements (let's take y and z) are fixed, while x will be determined by the value in the tuple.
There are two approaches in my view:
Either you define a new function with 2 fixed arguments and map:
def func1(x): return func(x, 3, 2)
tuple(map(func1, tpl))
Or map as follows (I think it is less elegant, but it is a matter of tastes, maybe):
tuple(map(lambda x: func(x, 3, 2), tpl))

One approach uses a list comprehension:
def add_one(x):
return x + 1
tpl = (5, 3)
output = tuple([add_one(x) for x in tpl])
print(output) # (6, 4)

You may consider using the generator comprehension then convert it to tuple:
>>> data = (3, 5, 7, 9)
>>> tuple((function(x) for x in data))

How to combine list and individual elements into one tuple in python?

I have a few variables in python3:
a = 1
b = [2,3,4]
c = 5
I want to get a tuple which is from above variables, like: (1,2,3,4,5)
what is the easiest way to do that in python3?

Creating a tuple in Python is as simple as putting the stuff you need in a tuple in parentheses:
my_tuple = (1, 2, 3)
a = 1
b = 2
c = 3
another_tuple = (a, b, c) # also works with variables, or anything else with a value
And if what you want in the tuple is in something else that can be unpacked, like a list or a tuple itself, you can use the unpacking operator * to unpack it into the new tuple:
a = 1
b = [2,3,4]
c = 5
my_tuple = (a, *b, c)
Not your question, but note that you can also get stuff from a tuple without using the * operator, as it's implied in an assignment statement:
x, _, z = my_tuple # continued from before
In this example, what was in a (1) is now also in x and what was in c also in z. What was in b and in the second position of the tuple gets discards (that's what the underscore _ here means, "don't care".)
You use the unpack operator in cases where you explicitly need to unpack and you're constructing some new variable, or need the elements of the tuple separately where they could also be used as a tuple. For example, when calling a function:
a_tuple = ('Hi there', 'John')
def greeting(phrase='Hello', name='world'):
print(f'{phrase}, {name}!')
greeting(*a_tuple)
In this example, calling greeting as greeting(a_tuple) would give you the very nasty result of ('Hi there', 'John'), world!, clearly not what you want, but you can still use the tuple with the unpack operator.
And the other obvious example is one like the one solving OP's question.

Simply create a new tuple as shown below.
newTuple=(a, *b, c)
Note: *b unpacks list b into variables and add each variable to indexes of newTuple

One of the ways is shown below
from functools import reduce
import operator
# create a bunch of lists, reduce them to one list and finally convert to tuple
result = tuple(reduce(operator.add, ([a], b, [c])))
print(result)

This is the most pythonic solution:
a = 1
b = [2,3,4]
c = 5
res = a,*b,c
# output: (1,2,3,4,5)
Note: To create the new tuple, round brackets are not necessary in Python3

What does single(not double) asterisk * means when unpacking dictionary in Python?

Can anyone explain the difference when unpacking the dictionary using single or double asterisk? You can mention their difference when used in function parameters, only if it is relevant here, which I don't think so.
However, there may be some relevance, because they share the same asterisk syntax.
def foo(a,b)
return a+b
tmp = {1:2,3:4}
foo(*tmp) #you get 4
foo(**tmp) #typeError: keyword should be string. Why it bothers to check the type of keyword?
Besides, why the key of dictionary is not allowed to be non-string when passed as function arguments in THIS situation? Are there any exceptions? Why they design Python in this way, is it because the compiler can't deduce the types in here or something?

When dictionaries are iterated as lists the iteration takes the keys of it, for example
for key in tmp:
print(key)
is the same as
for key in tmp.keys():
print(key)
in this case, unpacking as *tmp is equivalent to *tmp.keys(), ignoring the values. If you want to use the values you can use *tmp.values().
Double asterisk is used for when you define a function with keyword parameters such as
def foo(a, b):
or
def foo(**kwargs):
here you can store the parameters in a dictionary and pass it as **tmp. In the first case keys must be strings with the names of the parameter defined in the function firm. And in the second case you can work with kwargs as a dictionary inside the function.

def foo(a,b)
return a+b
tmp = {1:2,3:4}
foo(*tmp) #you get 4
foo(**tmp)
In this case:
foo(*tmp) mean foo(1, 3)
foo(**tmp) mean foo(1=2, 3=4), which will raise an error since 1 can't be an argument. Arg must be strings and (thanks # Alexander Reynolds for pointing this out) must start with underscore or alphabetical character. An argument must be a valid Python identifier. This mean you can't even do something like this:
def foo(1=2, 3=4):
<your code>
or
def foo('1'=2, '3'=4):
<your code>
See python_basic_syntax for more details.

It is a Extended Iterable Unpacking.
>>> def add(a=0, b=0):
... return a + b
...
>>> d = {'a': 2, 'b': 3}
>>> add(**d)#corresponding to add(a=2,b=3)
5
For single *,
def add(a=0, b=0):
... return a + b
...
>>> d = {'a': 2, 'b': 3}
>>> add(*d)#corresponding to add(a='a',b='b')
ab
Learn more here.

I think the ** double asterisk in function parameter and unpacking dictionary means intuitively in this way:
#suppose you have this function
def foo(a,**b):
print(a)
for x in b:
print(x,"...",b[x])
#suppose you call this function in the following form
foo(whatever,m=1,n=2)
#the m=1 syntax actually means assign parameter by name, like foo(a = whatever, m = 1, n = 2)
#so you can also do foo(whatever,**{"m":1,"n":2})
#the reason for this syntax is you actually do
**b is m=1,n=2 #something like pattern matching mechanism
so b is {"m":1,"n":2}, note "m" and "n" are now in string form
#the function is actually this:
def foo(a,**b): # b = {"m":1,"n":2}
print(a)
for x in b: #for x in b.keys(), thanks to #vlizana answer
print(x,"...",b[x])
All the syntax make sense now. And it is the same for single asterisk. It is only worth noting that if you use single asterisk to unpack dictionary, you are actually trying to unpack it in a list way, and only key of dictionary are unpacked.

[https://docs.python.org/3/reference/expressions.html#calls]
A consequence of this is that although the *expression syntax may appear after explicit keyword arguments, it is processed before the keyword arguments (and any **expression arguments – see below). So:
def f(a, b):
print(a, b)
f(b=1, *(2,))
f(a=1, *(2,))
#Traceback (most recent call last):
# File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
#TypeError: f() got multiple values for keyword argument 'a'
f(1, *(2,))

How can I explode a tuple so that it can be passed as a parameter list?

Let's say I have a method definition like this:
def myMethod(a, b, c, d, e)
Then, I have a variable and a tuple like this:
myVariable = 1
myTuple = (2, 3, 4, 5)
Is there a way I can pass explode the tuple so that I can pass its members as parameters? Something like this (although I know this won't work as the entire tuple is considered the second parameter):
myMethod(myVariable, myTuple)
I'd like to avoid referencing each tuple member individually if possible...

You are looking for the argument unpacking operator *:
myMethod(myVariable, *myTuple)

From the Python documentation:
The reverse situation occurs when the
arguments are already in a list or
tuple but need to be unpacked for a
function call requiring separate
positional arguments. For instance,
the built-in range() function expects
separate start and stop arguments. If
they are not available separately,
write the function call with the
*-operator to unpack the arguments out of a list or tuple:
>>> range(3, 6) # normal call with separate arguments
[3, 4, 5]
>>> args = [3, 6]
>>> range(*args) # call with arguments unpacked from a list
[3, 4, 5]
In the same fashion, dictionaries can
deliver keyword arguments with the
**-operator:
>>> def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom'):
... print "-- This parrot wouldn't", action,
... print "if you put", voltage, "volts through it.",
... print "E's", state, "!"
...
>>> d = {"voltage": "four million", "state": "bleedin' demised", "action": "VOOM"}
>>> parrot(**d)
-- This parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put four million volts through it. E's bleedin' demised !

Passing functions which have multiple return values as arguments in Python

So, Python functions can return multiple values. It struck me that it would be convenient (though a bit less readable) if the following were possible.
a = [[1,2],[3,4]]
def cord():
return 1, 1
def printa(y,x):
print a[y][x]
printa(cord())
...but it's not. I'm aware that you can do the same thing by dumping both return values into temporary variables, but it doesn't seem as elegant. I could also rewrite the last line as "printa(cord()[0], cord()[1])", but that would execute cord() twice.
Is there an elegant, efficient way to do this? Or should I just see that quote about premature optimization and forget about this?

printa(*cord())
The * here is an argument expansion operator... well I forget what it's technically called, but in this context it takes a list or tuple and expands it out so the function sees each list/tuple element as a separate argument.
It's basically the reverse of the * you might use to capture all non-keyword arguments in a function definition:
def fn(*args):
# args is now a tuple of the non-keyworded arguments
print args
fn(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
prints (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
fn(*[1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
does the same.

Try this:
>>> def cord():
... return (1, 1)
...
>>> def printa(y, x):
... print a[y][x]
...
>>> a=[[1,2],[3,4]]
>>> printa(*cord())
4
The star basically says "use the elements of this collection as positional arguments." You can do the same with a dict for keyword arguments using two stars:
>>> a = {'a' : 2, 'b' : 3}
>>> def foo(a, b):
... print a, b
...
>>> foo(**a)
2 3

Actually, Python doesn't really return multiple values, it returns one value which can be multiple values packed into a tuple. Which means that you need to "unpack" the returned value in order to have multiples.
A statement like
x,y = cord()
does that, but directly using the return value as you did in
printa(cord())
doesn't, that's why you need to use the asterisk. Perhaps a nice term for it might be "implicit tuple unpacking" or "tuple unpacking without assignment".