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Python Python Basics Types and Branching Numeric

Posted by Jamshaid Ali
Jamshaid Ali
189 Points

i didnt quite understand what the float and int command does can you please elaborate on it a bit more

i didnt quite understand what the float and int command does can you please elaborate on it a bit more

1 Answer

Peter Vann
Peter Vann
36,425 Points

Hi Jamshaid!

The int() and float() functions perform variable conversions - also called "casting".

This allows you to change the datatype of a variable in cases where you may need to change the datatype because, say, a certain function only accepts or a certain operation only works properly with specific data types.

Consider this code:

num_int = 1 # datatype = integer
num_string = '1' # datatype = string

new_num_int = int(num_str) # datatype = integer (because it was cast/converted from a string to an integer)

For example:

print("There are " + 7 + " days in one week.")

will produce this error:

TypeError: must be str, not int

however, this:

print("There are " + str(7) + " days in one week.")

will not.

More info:

https://www.w3schools.com/python/python_casting.asp

I hope that helps.

Stay safe and happy coding!