Which of the following statements will create a tuple?

• A. tuple = (1, 2, 3)
• B. tuple = [1, 2, 3]
• C. tuple = {1, 2, 3}
• D. tuple = 1, 2, 3

Answer: (D)

Creating a tuple in Python can be done in a couple of ways, and the correct choice demonstrates one of those methods effectively. In this case, using a sequence like 1, 2, 3 without any enclosing parentheses will automatically create a tuple. This feature is a fundamental part of Python's syntax, where a comma-separated list of items is treated as a tuple when there are no parentheses present to indicate otherwise.

While tuples can also be explicitly defined using parentheses, as shown in the first option, the ability to create a tuple without parentheses highlights the flexibility of tuple creation in Python. This is particularly useful in cases where you want to easily return multiple values from a function, for instance.

The other options represent different data structures: the second option creates a list, which is mutable; the third creates a set, which is an unordered collection and does not allow for duplicate values; these distinctions are crucial in understanding when and how to use each type of data structure in Python programming.