What Does Tuple (Database) Mean?

Overview

在大数据领域的各种文献和Paper中，经常会提到 tuple 这个词。通过这篇文章我们来理解下。

Tuple

在关系型数据库中，一个 tuple 就是一条记录（一行）。

数据库中的信息可以被认为是一个电子表格，列（称为字段或属性）代表不同类别的信息，而 tuple （行）代表与一条记录相关的每个字段的所有信息。

What-is-a-tuple-in-database

A tuple is simply a row contained in a table in the tablespace. A table usually contains columns and rows in which rows stand for records while columns stand for attributes. A single row of a table that has a single record for such a relation is known as a tuple. A Tuple is, therefore, a single entry in a table; it is also called a row or record. They usually represent a set of related data, in Math it is simply an ordered list of elements.

It should be noted that the relational model arranges data into at least one table of rows and columns using a unique key. The columns are referred to as attributes while the rows are called tuples or records. Furthermore, each of the rows as contained in a table has its unique key. Also, the rows in a different table can be connected by including a column for the key of the linked row.

Relational Database World

现实中数据库中的表的行代表了一种关系或一个现实世界的实体。

在现实模型中，数据被存储在关系（表）中，以 tuples（行）的形式表示。

The rows in the table from realtional database represent a relationship or a real-world entity.
In the realtional model, data is stored in relations(tables) and is represented in the form of tuples(rows).

Summary

tuple 隐含的意思是 各个元素数据类型可能不同，但是所有元素属于同一个entity，是一种realtion；

vector 隐含的是数据类型相同，是不同entity的同一个attribution。

在数学上，tuple 是一个有序的元素列表。

In mathematics, a tuple is an ordered list of elements. Related to this is an n-tuple, which in set theory is a collection (sequence) of “n” elements. Given this, it might be more properly said that tuples are implemented as records even though the terms are commonly used interchangeably.