def distance(tuple1, tuple2):
    """
    Calculates the absolute distance of two iterables, returns values between 
    0 and len(tuple1) + len(tuple2) .
    
    >>> distance(('a'), ())
    1
    
    >>> distance(('a'), ('a'))
    0
    
    >>> distance(['a', 'b'], ('b', 'c'))
    2
    
    >>> distance(['a', 'b'], ('c', 'd'))
    4
    """
    return len(set(tuple1).symmetric_difference(set(tuple2)))