Converting Types in Python

Introduction

Welcome to the Converting Types in Python Practice Lab. In this module, you will be provided with the instructions and devices needed to develop your hands-on skills.

Learning Outcomes

In this module, you will complete the following exercise:

• Exercise 1 - Managing Data Type Conversions

After completing this lab, you will be able to:

• Use the type() function to determine the data type of variables
• Perform data type conversions in Python

Exam Objectives

The following exam objective is covered in this lab:

• 1.1 Evaluate an expression to identify the data type Python will assign to each variable

Lab Duration

It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete this lab.

Exercise 1 - Managing Data Type Conversions

In real-time programming scenarios, as a developer you may come across situations where you need to determine the data type of variables used in the programs. Python provides a built-in function known as type() that helps to identify the data types of variables.

At times, you may need to convert the existing variables in the programs to other data types, join strings and numerals, or join whole numbers and decimal numbers. To handle such situations, one of the options you could choose is to re-initialize all the required variables with suitable data types and thereby accomplish the goal. However, re-initialization of variables in lengthy and complex programs is not a feasible solution. It is a time-consuming and unproductive effort.

Python provides quick and effective ways to handle data type conversions. There are built-in type conversion functions in Python that allow you to convert string to integer and float types, integer to float, float to integer, integer to character and string and so on.

In this exercise, you will perform two tasks. In the first task, you will create a Python program file and save it. You will write a program to use the type() function to determine the data type of integer, string, and float variables.

In the second task, you will write a program to perform data type conversions using the built-in type conversion functions such as str(), int(), float(), and chr().

Learning Outcomes

After completing this exercise, you will be able to:

• Use the type() function to determine the data type of variables
• Perform data type conversions in Python