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Asked: 2026-05-19T23:34:57+00:00

In MATLAB you have the ability to return tuples and assign to tuples of

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In MATLAB you have the ability to return tuples and assign to tuples of values the same as you do so in Python. In MATLAB, if a function returns a value you don’t want to assign to anything, you assign it to the special variable ~. For example, say a function f() returns a tuple (1, 2), then:

~, b = f()

Assigns 2 to b and 1 to nothing.

Is there an equivalent to this in Python? I understand I could just do:

a, b = f()

and ignore the value of a but I’d prefer skipping the assignment to a altogether. Rewriting the function f() is not an option.

I apologize if my Python terminology is wrong.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    A common idiom in Python is to use _ for this purpose.

    However it’s not necessarily a good idea because this variable is also used in the interactive interpreter for the last result and assigning to it will stop this useful feature from working.

    Also _ is sometimes used for string translation, e.g. with gettext.

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