Introduction
Displaying values
Variables
The print function
List basics
Instruction
Okay! Just like there are various types of cells in Excel (numbers, dates, text, etc.), there are various types of variables in Python. These include:
- Integers (
int) – integer numbers:current_age = 5
- Floats (
float) – numbers with a decimal part introduced after a dot (.):current_weight = 75.5
- Strings (
string) – text values surrounded by single (' ') or double (" ") quotes:standard_greeting = 'My name is Tom!'
Unlike many other programming languages, Python automatically detects the type of variable it should use. For instance, if you type:
temperature = 36.6
Python will know the temperature variable is a float because the number contains a dot (.). Take a look at another example:
ratio = 250/100
In this case Python will automatically detect that the result of division is a floating point number.
Exercise
In Python, there is a function named type() that can tell you the type of a variable that you pass in to its parentheses. Now, take a look at the template code and run it.
You can see that:
-
ageis an integer (int), -
weightis afloatbecause it contains a decimal point (.), -
nameis a string (str) because it is surrounded by quotes.
Stuck? Here's a hint!
Simply run the template code.
