Python List/Tuple

Lists are for looping, tuples are for structures i.e. "%s %s" %tuple.
Lists are usually homogeneous, tuples are usually heterogeneous.
Lists are for variable length, tuples are for fixed length.

The values of list can be changed any time but the values of tuples can't be change.
The advantages and disadvantages depends upon the use. If you have such a data which you never want to change then you should have to use tuple, otherwise list is the best option.
 

 

Difference between list and tuple

1. Size
   

   a = tuple(range(1000))
   b = list(range(1000))
   
   a.__sizeof__() # 8024
   b.__sizeof__() # 9088

   Due to the smaller size of a tuple operation with it a bit faster but not that much to mention about until you have a huge amount of elements.
2. Permitted operations
   

   b    = [1,2]   
   b[0] = 3       # [3, 2]
   
   a    = (1,2)
   a[0] = 3       # Error

   that also mean that you can't delete element or sort tuple. At the same time you could add new element to both list and tuple with the only difference that you will change id of the tuple by adding element
   

   a     = (1,2)
   b     = [1,2]  
   
   id(a)          # 140230916716520
   id(b)          # 748527696
   
   a   += (3,)    # (1, 2, 3)
   b   += [3]     # [1, 2, 3]
   
   id(a)          # 140230916878160
   id(b)          # 748527696

3. Usage
   You can't use list as a dictionary identifier
   

   a    = (1,2)
   b    = [1,2] 
   
   c = {a: 1}     # OK
   c = {b: 1}     # Error

The key difference is that tuples are immutable. This means that you cannot change the values in a tuple once you have created it.
So if you're going to need to change the values use a List.
Benefits to tuples:

1. Slight performance improvement.
2. As a tuple is immutable it can be used as a key in a dictionary.
3. If you can't change it neither can anyone else, which is to say you don't need to worry about any API functions etc. changing your tuple without being asked.