Python unzip idiom

The *splat operator is commonly used to unzip arrays in Python:

>>> a = [1,2,3]

>>> b = [4,5,6]

>>> zip(a,b)
[(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)]

>>> zip(*_)
[(1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6)]

I’ve included another trick, the _ (underscore) is a shortcut in the interactive interpreter for the last returned value, which works in irb too and likely many others.