Python is a widely used and known high-level programming language. The language is a recent discovery and has been used commonly in the software industry for designing apps and websites. This is because it is an easy-to-learn language and has a wide range of libraries that are in-built and can be of great use. In Python, most of the job gets easier when compared to the other programming languages, like declaring the type of variable or type conversion. Let us know about ‘Python String Type’.
Python String Type
Converting one type of variable to another in Python is simple and easier than the other programming languages like C or Java. This is because the type conversion function is done directly in Python and the language does not need the programmer to declare the type of a variable. One can just declare the variable and Python would take in the type by itself.
There are two types of conversion in Python for variables and in this article, we will read about both of them, with examples.
What is a variable?
A variable in a Python program, like in mathematics, is a letter or symbol with a value that you can declare. It is a pointer to any value that may be assigned to it. A variable can be given the value of a number, letter, word, sentence, list, tuple, dictionary, and more. But on the more technical aspect, a variable is the reserved memory location for any item. When you declare a variable, you are essentially storing the value of that variable in some location.
Type conversion in Python
Type conversion refers to when the type of one variable is changed to another. There are two types of type conversions: Implicit type conversion and Explicit type conversion in Python.
In Implicit data type conversion, the interpreter converts the type of the variable by itself without requiring the programmer to do it.
For instance:
x= 6
print(“x is of type”,type(x))
y=372.94
print(“y is of type”,type(y))
z=x+y
print(“z os of type”,type(z))
This will fetch the output as:
x is of type <class ‘int’>
y is of type <class ‘float’>
z is of type <class ‘float’>
Here, the value of z is automatically changed to a float when an integer is added with a float. It is more feasible to convert it to float than to integer because float gives more storage space for usage than an integer.
In Explicit type conversion, the programmer is the one who changed the data type:
a=479
b=str(a)
print (b)
Output:
‘479’
Here the integer type is changed to string type by the user.
Converting integer to string
In case you want to convert a variable of integer type into a string type, you can do it using both the implicit and the explicit methods.
Implicit method:
w=628
#this is an integer
x=w+1
print(x)
#here, both x and w are integers
w=’What can I do?’
#here the value of w is automatically changed to a string
print(w)
In this case, the value of w remains an integer till it is otherwise declared.
The output will be:
629
What can I do
We can see that the value of w remains an integer in the first option but is later converted to a string. We can do the same using operations too.
Using explicit conversion:
r=4392
print(type(r))
#this is an integer
u=str(r)
print(type(u))
#now the value of u is the same as that of r, but the data type is changed to a string
In this case, the output will be:
type of r is <class ‘int’>
type of u is <class ‘str’>
String to Integer conversion
Both the implicit and explicit methods can be used to convert a string type to an integer type. We will see how to use both here.
Implicit method:
y=” there is an apple”
#y is a string
print(“the type of y is”, type(y))
y=3729
#the data type of y is changed to an integer
print(“the type of y is”, type(y))
Output:
the type of y is <class ‘str’>
the type of y is <class ‘int’>
Explicit method:
f=”5638”
#f is now a string
print(“the type of f is”, type(f))
d=int(f)
#the value of d is the given value of f but the type is now an integer
print(“the type of d is”, type (d))
Output:
the type of f is <class ‘str’>
the type of d is <class ‘int’>
Errors that might come up when converting data structures
There are quite a number of errors that might come up when converting integers to strings or strings to integers. One of the common errors is when you have words in strings and try to convert that to integer. In this case, an error will come as integer does not support alphabets. Neither can you convert a decimal number given as a string into an integer. You will have to convert it into a float because integer data structure does not support decimals.
There are also chances you might misspell any keyword and thus, it is important to check the spellings in your code.
Conclusion
Python is considered to be a very easy programming language to learn and make use of owing to its simplicity. Python string type conversion, especially, are very easy for beginner programmers to use. Using the different operations and functions that are available in Python, it is easy to design a range of programs: from small games to apps.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is type conversion difficult in Python?
Python string Type conversion is not difficult and there is more than one way to go about it.
2. What is type conversion?
Type conversion in Python or any programming language is converting the data type of one variable to another type.
