In Python, data type conversion refers to the process of transforming one data type to another, which is useful in everyday programming.
This tutorial covers type conversion in Python in detail, with examples and discussions of various types of conversions.
Table of Contents
What is Type Conversion in Python?
Type conversionor typecasting in Python refers to changing one data type to another in order to make it more suitable for the operation you wish to perform. There are two types of type conversion in Python.
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- Implicit Type Conversion – automatic type conversion
- Explicit Type Conversion – manual type conversion
Implicit Type Conversion in Python
In Python, when the data type conversion takes place during compilation or during the runtime, it’s called an implicit data type conversion. Python handles the implicit data type conversion, so we don’t have to explicitly convert the data type into another data type. We have seen various examples of this kind of data type conversion throughout the tutorial. Let’s see another example.
Let’s add two Python variables of two different data types and store the result in a variable and see if the Python compiler is able to convert the data type of the resultant variable or not.
In the above example, we have taken two variables of integer, and float data types and added them. Further, we have declared another variable named ‘sum’ and stored the result of the addition in it. When we checked the data type of the sum variable, we could see that the data type of the sum variable had been automatically converted into the float data type by the Python compiler. This is called implicit type conversion.
The reason that the sum variable was converted into the float data type and not the integer data type is that if the compiler had converted it into the integer data type, then it would’ve had to remove the fractional part, which would have resulted in data loss. So, Python always converts smaller data types into larger data types to prevent the loss of data.
Explicit Type Conversion in Python
Explicit type conversion is also known as typecasting. Explicit type conversion takes place when the programmer clearly and explicitly defines the same in the program. For explicit type conversion, there are some in-built Python functions. The following table contains some of the in-built functions for type conversion, along with their descriptions.
| Function |
Description |
| int(y [base]) |
It converts y to an integer, and Base specifies the number base. For example, if you want to convert the string into decimal numbers then you’ll use 10 as the base. |
| float(y) |
It converts y to a floating-point number. |
| complex(real [imag]) |
It creates a complex number. |
| str(y) |
It converts y to a string. |
| tuple(y) |
It converts y to a tuple. |
| list(y) |
It converts y to a list. |
| set(y) |
It converts y to a set. |
| dict(y) |
It creates a dictionary and y should be a sequence of (key, value) tuples. |
| ord(y) |
It converts a character into an integer. |
| hex(y) |
It converts an integer to a hexadecimal string. |
| oct(y) |
It converts an integer to an octal string |
Now that we know the in-built functions provided by Python that are used for explicit type conversion, let’s see the syntax for explicit type conversion:
(required_data type)(expression)
Let’s go over the following examples for explicit type conversion in Python.
In the above example, variable a is of the number data type, and variable b is of the string data type. When we try to add these two integers and store the value in a variable named result1, a TypeError occurs, as shown in the output. So, in order to perform this operation, we have to use explicit type casting.
As we can see in the above code block, we have converted the variable b into an int type and then added variables a and b. The sum is stored in the variable named result2, and when printed, it displays 300 as output, as we can see in the output block. Also, checking to see if a string is an integer or float.
Key Points to Remember While Performing Type Conversion in Python
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- Type conversion is the process of converting a data type into another data type.
- Implicit type conversion is performed by a Python interpreter only.
- Explicit type conversion is performed by the user by explicitly using type conversion functions in the program code.
- Explicit type conversion is also known as typecasting.
- Python, when performing implicit type casting, avoids the loss of data.
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Conclusion
We have now completed this module of the Python Tutorial. Now, if you want to know why Python is the most preferred language for Data Science, you can go through this blog on Python Data Science tutorial.
Now look into the Python Certification Training for upgrading your career to new heights. Also, check out our Python Interview Questions For Freshers.
