Python: Return tuple or list?

Question

I have a method that returns either a list or a tuple. What is the most pythonic way of denoting the return type in the argument?

def names(self, section, as_typ         


        

Answer 1

Keep it simple:

def names(self, section):
    """Returns a list of names."""
    return [m[0] for m in self.items(section)]

If the caller wants a tuple instead of a list, he does this:

names = tuple(obj.names(section))