Casting

There may be times when you want to specify a type on to a variable. This can be done with casting. Python is an object-orientated language, and as such it uses classes to define data types, including its primitive types.

Casting in python is therefore done using constructor functions:

int() constructs an integer number from an integer literal, a float literal (by removing all decimals), or string literal (providing the string represents a whole number).

float() constructs a float number from an integer literal, a float literal or a string literal (providing the string represents a float or an integer).

str() constructs a string from a wide variety of data types, including strings, integer literals and float literals.

# Integers:
int_casting1 = int(1)  # x will be 1
int_casting2 = int(2.8)  # y will be 2
int_casting3 = int("3")  # z will be 3

# Floats:
float_casting1 = float(1)  # x will be 1.0
float_casting2 = float(2.8)  # y will be 2.8
float_casting3 = float("3")  # z will be 3.0
float_casting4 = float("4.2")  # w will be 4.2

# Strings:
string_casting1 = str("s1")  # x will be 's1'
string_casting2 = str(2)  # y will be '2'
string_casting3 = str(3.0)  # z will be '3.0'