Data Types and Type Conversion

Overview

Teaching: 5 min
Exercises: 7 min

Questions

• What kinds of data do programs store?

• How can I convert one type to another?

Objectives

• Explain key differences between integers and floating point numbers.

• Explain key differences between numbers and character strings.

• Use built-in functions to convert between integers, floating point numbers, and strings.

Every value has a type.

• Every value in a program has a specific type.
• Integer (int): represents positive or negative whole numbers like 3 or -512.
• Floating point number (float): represents real numbers like 3.14159 or -2.5.
• Character string (usually called “string”, str): text.
  • Written in either single quotes or double quotes (as long as they match).
  • The quote marks aren’t printed when the string is displayed.

Use the built-in function type to find the type of a value.

• Use the built-in function type to find out what type a value has.
• Works on variables as well.

print(type(52))

<class 'int'>

fitness = 'average'
print(type(fitness))

<class 'str'>

Types control what operations (or methods) can be performed on a given value.

• A value’s type determines what the program can do to it.

print(5 - 3)

2

print('hello' - 'h')

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-2-67f5626a1e07> in <module>()
----> 1 print('hello' - 'h')

TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for -: 'str' and 'str'

You can use the “+” operator on strings.

• “Adding” character strings concatenates them.

full_name = 'Ahmed' + ' ' + 'Walsh'
print(full_name)

Ahmed Walsh

Must convert numbers to strings or vice versa when operating on them.

• Cannot add numbers and strings.

print(1 + '2')

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-4-fe4f54a023c6> in <module>()
----> 1 print(1 + '2')

TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'

• Not allowed because it’s ambiguous: should 1 + '2' be 3 or '12'?
• Some types can be converted to other types by using the type name as a function.

print(1 + int('2'))
print(str(1) + '2')

3
12

Can mix integers and floats freely in operations.

• Integers and floating-point numbers can be mixed in arithmetic.
  • Python 3 automatically converts integers to floats as needed.

print('half is', 1 / 2.0)
print('three squared is', 3.0 ** 2)

half is 0.5
three squared is 9.0

Variables only change value when something is assigned to them.

• If we make one cell in a spreadsheet depend on another, and update the latter, the former updates automatically.
• This does not happen in programming languages.

variable_one = 1
variable_two = 5 * variable_one
variable_one = 2
print('first is', variable_one, 'and second is', variable_two)

first is 2 and second is 5

• The computer reads the value of first when doing the multiplication, creates a new value, and assigns it to second.
• After that, second does not remember where it came from.

Automatic Type Conversion

What type of value is 3.25 + 4?

Solution

It is a float: integers are automatically converted to floats as necessary.

result = 3.25 + 4
print(result, 'is', type(result))

7.25 is <class 'float'>

Choose a Type

What type of value (integer, floating point number, or character string) would you use to represent each of the following? Try to come up with more than one good answer for each problem. For example, in # 1, when would counting days with a floating point variable make more sense than using an integer?

1. Number of days since the start of the year.
2. Time elapsed from the start of the year until now in days.
3. Serial number of a piece of lab equipment.
4. A lab specimen’s age
5. Current population of a city.
6. Average population of a city over time.

Solution

The answers to the questions are:

1. Integer, since the number of days would lie between 1 and 365.
2. Floating point, since fractional days are required
3. Character string if serial number contains letters and numbers, otherwise integer if the serial number consists only of numerals
4. This will vary! How do you define a specimen’s age? whole days since collection (integer)? date and time (string)?
5. Choose floating point to represent population as large aggregates (eg millions), or integer to represent population in units of individuals.
6. Floating point number, since an average is likely to have a fractional part.

Key Points

• Every value has a type.

• Use the built-in function type to find the type of a value.

• Types control what operations can be done on values.

• Strings can be added.

• Strings have a length.

• Must convert numbers to strings or vice versa when operating on them.

• Can mix integers and floats freely in operations.

• Variables only change value when something is assigned to them.