Unpacking over multiple lines with style

Question

In Python, I want to do something like this

an_explicit_variable_name, another_explicit_variable_name, an_even_more_explicit_variable_name = function(foo)

But I also want this to be readable and fit on several short lines rather than one very long line. I didn't find any help in PEP 08. This question is somwhat related, but the answers aren't quite what I want.

---

This is the best I could come up with as far as line-length is concerned, but I don't really like using a[0] etc.

a = function(foo)
an_explicit_variable_name = a[0]
another_explicit_variable_name = a[1]
an_even_more_explicit_variable_name = a[2]

---

This doesn't work because the second line is still too long

_ = function(foo)
an_explicit_variable_name, another_explicit_variable_name, an_even_more_explicit_variable_name = _

---

Should I separate the variables I am declaring over several lines? If so, how do I indent?

an_explicit_variable_name, \
    another_explicit_variable_name, \
    an_even_more_explicit_variable_name \
    = function(foo)


an_explicit_variable_name, \
        another_explicit_variable_name, \
        an_even_more_explicit_variable_name \
    = function(foo)

---

What would be the proper style to adopt in this situation?

Answer 1

Just use parentheses:

(an_explicit_variable_name, 
 another_explicit_variable_name, 
 an_even_more_explicit_variable_name) = function(foo)

Alternatively, if the data belongs together, create a container object to hold it together, e.g. a collections.namedtuple, then do:

data = container(*function(foo))
# use e.g. data.an_explicit_variable_name