3.6 Type Conversion

Sometimes, data can be converted from one type to another.

float() - converts integers and strings (when appropriate) to floats

print(float(3))
print(float("2.57"))

3.0
2.57

int()converts floats and strings into integers. Note that this function always rounds down if necessary. An exception here: int() does not allow you to convert a string with a decimal point into an integer - int("3.62") will throw an error.

print(int('3'))
print(int(2.57))

3
2

Note that for the above functions, it is not always possible to do convert data into a different type. In particular, strings with non-numeric characters cause problems - int("Dachshund") will not work.

str() converts all other data types into strings.

print(str(3))
print(str(2.57))
print(str(True))

'3'
'2.57'
'True'

A special case of type conversions comes with booleans. Numeric values are automatically converted into booleans. 0 is equivalent to False. All non-zero numeric values are equivalent to True. Likewise, empty strings ('') convert to False. All non-empty strings (inlcuding the string 'False') convert to True.