A Beginner's Guide to Type Casting in Python: Day 11

Introduction:

Welcome to Day 11 of my Python journey!

We can convert one type / class value to another type/ class. This conversion is called Typecasting or Type conversion.

The following are various in-built functions for type casting.

1. int()

2. float()

3. complex()

4. bool()

5. str()

Type-casting is the process of converting a value from one data type to another.

Python supports various types of type-casting, which can be explicit or implicit.

Implicit Type-Casting

Python automatically performs implicit type-casting in certain situations:

1. Numeric operations: int + float becomes float

2. String concatenation: str + int becomes str (using str() function)

3. Boolean operations: bool with other types

Explicit Type-Casting

Use the following functions to explicitly cast types:

1. Integer Type-Casting

   We can use this function to convert values from other types to int

   Example:

   int(123.987)

   123

   int(10+5j)

   TypeError: can't convert complex to int

   int(True)

   1

   int(False)

   0

   int("10")

   10

   int("10.5")

   ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '10.5'

   int("ten")

   ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'ten'

   int("0B1111")

   ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: '0B1111'

   int ("101", base =2)

   5

   Note:

   1. We can convert from any type to int except complex type.

   2. If we want to convert str type to int type, compulsory str should contain only integral value and should be specified in base-10

• 2. float type casting :

• We can use float() function to convert other type values to float type.

• example:

  float(10)

  10.0

• float(10+5j)

  TypeError: can't convert complex to float

• float(True)

  1.0

• float(False)

  0.0

• float("10")

  10.0

• float("10.5")

  10.5

• float("ten")

  ValueError: could not convert string to float: 'ten'

• float("0B1111")

  ValueError: could not convert string to float: '0B1111'

  Note:

• 1. We can convert any type value to float type except complex type.

• 2. Whenever we are trying to convert str type to float type compulsary str should be either integral or floating point literal and should be specified only in base-10.

  3. complex Type casting :

• We can use complex() function to convert other types to complex type.

• Format 1: complex(x)

• We can use this function to convert x into complex number with real part x and imaginary part 0.

Example:

• complex(10) #==>10+0j

• complex(10.5) #===>10.5+0j

• complex(True) #==>1+0j

• complex(False) #==>0j

• complex("10") #==>10+0j

• complex("10.5") #==>10.5+0j

• complex("ten") #==>ValueError: complex() arg is a malformed string

• Format-2: complex(x,y)

• We can use this method to convert x and y into complex number such that x will be real part and y will be imaginary part.

• Example:

  complex(10,-2) #==>10-2j

• complex(True,False) #==>1+0j

  4. String Type-Casting

• We can use this method to convert other type values to str type

• Example:

  str(10) #==>'10'

• str(10.5) #==>'10.5'

• str(10+5j) #==>'(10+5j)'

• str(True) #==>'True'

• repr() : Returns a string representation of the object

• format() : Formats a string

  5. Boolean Type-Casting

• We can use this function to convert other type values to bool type.

Example:

• bool(0) #==>False

• bool(1) #==>True

• bool(10) #===>True

• bool(10.5) #===>True

• bool(0.178) #==>True

• bool(0.0) #==>False

• bool(10-2j) #==>True

• bool(0+1.5j) #==>True

• bool(0+0j) #==>False

• bool("True") #==>True

• bool("False") #==>True

• bool("") #==>False

• List Type-Casting

• list() : Converts to list

• tuple() : Converts to tuple

• set() : Converts to set

• dict() : Converts to dictionary

Example:

x = 'hello' y = list(x) # y becomes ['h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'] z = tuple(x) # z becomes ('h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o')

6. Other Type-Casting

• chr() : Converts integer to character

• ord() : Converts character to integer

• bin() : Converts integer to binary string

• hex() : Converts integer to hexadecimal string

• oct() : Converts integer to octal string

Example:

x = 65 y = chr(x) # y becomes 'A' z = ord('A') # z becomes 65

Best Practices

1. Use explicit type-casting for clarity.

2. Avoid implicit type-casting to prevent unexpected behavior.

3. Be aware of potential data loss during type-casting (e.g., converting float to int).

Example Use Cases

1. Data conversion for database interactions

2. Numeric computations requiring specific data types

3. String manipulation and formatting

4. Boolean logic and conditional statements

Feel free to ask me any questions or share your experiences with type-casting in Python!

Resources

1. official Python Documentation

2. W3Schools

3. GeeksforGeeks

Challenges:

1. Understanding type casting.

2. Handling coding errors.

Goals for Tomorrow:

1. Explore something more about type casting.

2. Learn about exceptions.

Conclusion:

Day 11 was a success!

Mastering type-casting in Python is essential for effective programming. By understanding the different types of type-casting and using them judiciously, you can write more efficient, readable, and maintainable code.

What are your views on type casting ? Share in the comments below.

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GitHub: [ https://github.com/p-archana1 ]

Join the conversation:

Share your own learning experiences or ask questions in the comments.

Next Post:

Day 12 : control structure in python.

Happy learning!

THANK YOU!!