Learning Python – Lesson 5: More on Numbers and Math

Python Programming

It’s time to dig deeper into our work with numbers (including math) and strings.

What is Your Type?

First of all, it might be handy (especially as you learning), to have Python report the type of a variable or a literal value. For example:

C:\Users\terry>py
Python 3.7.4 (tags/v3.7.4:e09359112e, Jul  8 2019, 20:34:20) [MSC v.1916 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> type(199.9)
<class 'float'>
>>> type("Howdy!")
<class 'str'>
>>> type(10043)
<class 'int'>
>>> a = "This is cool!"
>>> type(a)
<class 'str'>
>>>

More on Division

Division in Python comes in two variations:

/ carries out floating point division

// caries out integer (truncating) division

For example:

>>> 15 / 4
3.75
>>> 15 // 4
3

Math Precedence

Many of the math precedence rules would make sense to us (those that took some math in school!) For example, multiplication wins over addition. But fortunately, Python supports the use of ( ) to indicate precedence. This keeps us from having to worry about default behaviors. Here is an example:

>>> 10 + 20 + (10 * 7)
100

What Base Are You On?

Of course, Python permits you to speak to it in more than Base 10. Use the following:

0b for binary

0o for octal

0x for hex

For example:

>>> 0b11001101
205
>>> 0x23e
574

Change Your Type!

Use the int() function to change other data types to an integer:

>>> int(19.0)
19
>>> int(True)
1
>>> int("2020")
2020

I hope you had fun in this lesson! More soon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *