Data Types in Python

In programming languages, we have to define the type of data we are using. However, In Python programming, we don’t have to define the data type in most cases it is because Python is a dynamically typed programming language it simply means there is no problem if you do not define the data type of a variable.

Note: If you don’t know yet what is the variables then you do not need to be worried because in the next tutorial we are going to learn about variables.

Let’s come to the topic-

Not just in programming languages but in normal life also, there is a certain fixed type of everything. For Example, if you want to perform mathematical calculations then you need numbers you can not multiply or divide characters.

In programming languages, we have to simply define that the data we are giving to the program is a number, character, or any other data type.

Table of Contents

Built-in Data Types

There are a total of eight types of built-in data types are there in Python. As mentioned, Python Programming is Dynamically typed so we don’t have to define the data type all the time but it is very important for a programmer to know about it.

Text Data Type	str
Numeric Data Type	int, float, complex
Sequence Data Types	list, tuple, range
Mapping Data Types	dict
Set Data Types	set, frozenset
Binary Data Types	bytes, bytearray, memoryview
Boolean Data Types	bool

We are going to learn about each of these data types in the next tutorials.

Set Data Types in Python

In Python programming, when you are assigning a value to a variable you don’t have to define the data type but the interpreter itself will understand as per the assigned value just like us human beings.

When we humans say 9213 or any other thing to someone, we don’t have to say that it’s a number or a string but the person listening understands without telling. Python also understands like us. But in other programming languages, we have to define it.

In Python programming, if you assign Name = “John” and Age = 50 then python will catch that the variable “Name” has a string value and “Age” has an integer value.

But keep in mind that it matters how you are assigning the value to a variable. As per our assignment style the Python virtual machine differentiates the data types.

Let’s understand the assignment style and data type with the help of table-

Name = “John”	Str
Age = 56	Int
Weight = 65.5	Float
ID = R4f5	Complex
Friends = [“Dips”, “Jack”, “Bob”]	list
Daughters = (“Emma”, “Liam”, “Noah”)	tuple
Kids = range(4)	range
Son = {“Name” : “James”, “Age” : 20}	dist
Fruits = {“Apple”, “Mango”, “Orange”}	set
Colors = frozenset({“Red”, “Blue”, “Black”})	frozenset
Check = True	bool
A = b”Canada”	bytes
B = bytearray(6)	bytearray
C = memoryview(bytes(8))	memoryview

Note: If you are unable to understand the data type you don’t need to be worried. We have covered each and every data type separately in the next few tutorials.

User-Defined Data Types in Python Programming

Programming languages allow users to define data types using concepts like Array, Class, Structure, Union, Pointer, etc.

Python doesn’t have data types like Structure, Union, and Pointer but it has Arrays and Classes.

In this complete Python tutorial series, we have covered Arrays in Python also. Please go through the Arrays tutorial to get a whole idea about the topic.

Also, we have a detailed tutorial post about classes in Python.

Check Data Type in Python

Python allows you to check the data type of any variable or object using the type() function. When we use the type() function with any variable or object it returns the data type.

Let’s have an example-

Name = "Dips"
RollNo = 123
print(type(Name))
print(type(RollNo))

When you run the above code it will return the data type of Name and RollNo variables like this-

<class 'str'>
<class 'int'>

Change Data Type

In python programming, if you have created a variable and assigned any kind of value to it like an integer, float, or any other then still the data type can be changed anytime by using the function for the data type conversion. In Python, there is a function for every data type.

Integer to float

For example, we have a variable that holds an integer value and we want to change it from an integer to a float value then we can use the float() function.

Name = "Jack"
weight = 65
a = float(weight)
print(weight)
print(a)

Output-

65
65.0

Float to Integer

We just converted an integer value to a float value using the float() function. We can also convert a float value to an integer value using int() function.

Height = 5.9
a =  int(Height)
print(a)

Output-

Other Functions for Changing Data Types

We just used int() and float() functions for changing data types. But in Python Programming, there is a function for every data type like str() for string, and list() for the list, you can use such functions if you want to change the data type.

You can use the following functions to change the data type-

int() function is used for integers.
float() function used for float.
str() function for string.
complex() function is used for the complex.
list() function for list.
tuple() for the tuple.
set() for sets.
range() for range.
dist() function for dictionaries.
bool() function for booleans.
frozenset() for frozenset.
byte() function for byte.
bytearray() function for bytearray (It is also a binary data type).
memoryview() function for memory view(binary data type)

Conclusion

This was an amazing tutorial in which we covered most of the topics related to Data Types in Python programming. We learned how to set the data type, how to check the data type, and how to change the data type in Python programming with examples. If you think we have missed something then please let us know through a comment.