Tuple in C# 4.0

A Tuple in C# is an ordered sequence, means each object being of a specific type. It is introduced in C# 4.0 with dynamic programming. It can be useful when returning more than one value from a method.

A Tuple has many items. Each item can have any data type. The Tuple class provides a unified syntax for creating objects with typed fields.

Visual studio provides the intellisense for tuple object depends upon the data type of the item.

Methods

//Creates a new 1-tuple, or singleton.
public class Tuple <T1>

//Creates a new 2-tuple, or pair.
public class Tuple <T1, T2>

//Creates a new 3-tuple, or triple.
public class Tuple <T1, T2, T3>

//Creates a new 4-tuple, or quadruple.
public class Tuple <T1, T2, T3, T4>

//Creates a new 5-tuple, or quintuple.
public class Tuple <T1, T2, T3, T4, T5>

//Creates a new 6-tuple, or sextuple.
public class Tuple <T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6>

//Creates a new 7-tuple, or septuple.
public class Tuple <T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7>

//Creates a new 8-tuple, or octuple.
public class Tuple <T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7, T8>

A Tuple can be instantiated in two ways:

1. Constructor

var tuple = new Tuple<int, string>(10, "Hello World");

2. Static method

var tuple = Tuple.Create(10.10, "Hello World", 50);

Tuples are commonly used in four ways:

1. To represent a single set of data. For example, a tuple can represent a database record, and its components can represent individual fields of the record.

2. To provide easy access to, and manipulation of, a data set.

3. To return multiple values from a method without using out parameters.

4. To pass multiple values to a method through a single parameter.

Example

Tuple<int, string> tuple = new Tuple<int, string>(10, "Hello World!");
Console.WriteLine(tuple.Item1); // will print 10
Console.WriteLine(tuple.Item2); // will print "Hello World!"

Related articles

• Tuple Class (msdn.microsoft.com)
• Tuple in C# (afana.me)