Explain differences between Python list and tuple
Company: PayPal
Role: Data Scientist
Category: Coding & Algorithms
Difficulty: hard
Interview Round: Technical Screen
In Python, what are the key differences between a `list` and a `tuple`?
Cover:
- Mutability and implications
- Performance and memory considerations (high level)
- Typical use cases
- Hashability and when tuples can be dictionary keys
- One short code example illustrating an important difference
Quick Answer: Evaluates understanding of Python data structures—specifically lists versus tuples—by probing concepts such as mutability and its implications, high-level performance and memory trade-offs, typical use cases, and hashability for use as dictionary keys.