Table of Contents
Understanding Python Data Types: A Comprehensive Guide
Python has the following data types built-in by default, in these categories:
| Text Type: | str |
| Numeric Types: | int, float, complex |
| Sequence Types: | list, tuple, range |
| Mapping Type: | dict |
| Set Types: | set, frozenset |
| Boolean Type: | bool |
| Binary Types: | bytes, bytearray, memoryview |
Variables can hold values of different data types. Python is a dynamically typed language hence we need not define the type of the variable while declaring it. The interpreter implicitly binds the value with its type.
Python enables us to check the type of the variable used in the program. Python provides us the type() function which returns the type of the variable passed.
Consider the following example to define the values of different data types and checking its type.
A=10
b="Hi Python"
c = 10.5
print(type(a));
print(type(b));
print(type(c));
Output:
<type 'int'>
<type 'str'>
<type 'float'>
Setting the Data Type
In Python, the data type is set when you assign a value to a variable:
| Example | Data Type |
|---|---|
| x = "Hello World" | str |
| x = 20 | int |
| x = 20.5 | float |
| x = 1j | complex |
| x = ["male", "female", "others"] | list |
| x = ("apple", "banana", "cherry") | tuple |
| x = range(6) | range |
| x = {"name" : "Rambo", "age" : 23} | dict |
| x = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"} | set |
| x = frozenset({"apple", "banana", "cherry"}) | frozenset |
| x = True | bool |
| x = b"Hello" | bytes |
| x = bytearray(5) | bytearray |
| x = memoryview(bytes(5)) | memoryview |
Setting the Specific Data Type
If you want to specify the data type, you can use the following constructor functions:
| Example | Data Type |
|---|---|
| x = str("Hello World") | str |
| x = int(20) | int |
| x = float(20.5) | float |
| x = complex(1j) | complex |
| x = list(("male", "female", "others")) | list |
| x = tuple(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) | tuple |
| x = range(6) | range |
| x = dict(name="Rambo", age=21) | dict |
| x = set(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) | set |
| x = frozenset(("apple", "banana", "cherry")) | frozenset |
| x = bool(5) | bool |
| x = bytes(5) | bytes |
| x = bytearray(5) | bytearray |
| x = memoryview(bytes(5)) | memoryview |