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Python Lesson 4 - Data Types

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Python Lesson 4 - Data Types

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sy.shady86
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Data Types

Lesson 4


1) What is the name of the programming language we’ve been learning?
A. Prolog B. Python C. Piranha D. Pascal

2) If we typed this code into Python: print(6 + 3 * 7),


what output would we see on screen?
A. 63 B. 637 C. 16 D. 27

3) The two windows in Python are called:


A. The Interactive mode and Script mode windows.
B. The Left mode and Right mode windows.
C. The Instant mode and Slow mode windows.
D. The Open mode and Close mode windows.
• Have you heard of
The Millennium Bug?

• In the year 1999, many people believed that


computer systems everywhere would crash,
bringing worldwide disaster and chaos.
• The reason they thought this was very
simple…
• Lots of computer systems only used two digits to
store the current year.
• For example, if the year was 1997, this would be
stored as 97.
• In 1999, the year would be stored as 99.
• What would happen on the 1st of January in the year
2000?
• Answer: this would be stored as 00. Click to see what happened…

99
98
97
00
• Many people feared that dates and records stored on
computers would be confused. How would
computers know which century it was?
1900? 2000? 3000?
• So what actually happened on 1st January 2000?
Did the Millennium Bug bring the world to a standstill?

• Thankfully not. However, some computer systems and displays got


the dates mixed up, displaying the year 1900 instead of 2000.

• For us today, it is a useful reminder of how computers store


information (data). The billboard of the École centrale de
Nantes university , in France , reads 3
January 1900 instead of 3 January 2000 .
• The way that a computer processes information depends on the
type of information. We call this the data type.
Think back to last lesson when we learned about variables.

We can think of variables as boxes. Each box has a label, and we can
store information (data) in each box.
This information can vary during the running of a program. The boxes
are emptied of data when the program ends.

When we store information (data) in a Python


>>> name = input(“What is your name?”)
What is your name? Monty program, we need to know the data type of the
>>>
“Monty” information.
Python has four data types:
• String - text or alphanumeric information enclosed between “”
• Integer - a whole number, a number which is not a fraction
• Float - a number which can be a fraction
• Boolean - can only be one of two values, True or False

“y” 47 23.68 False


Which data type is this value?

Float 3.142
Which data type is this value?

String “Monty”
Which data type is this value?

Boolean True
Which data type is this value?

Integer 47
Which data type is this value?

String “1234”
Did this answer surprise you?
Any data enclosed within
“quotes” is always a string!
Which data type is this value?

Integer -23
• Python has a useful command called type.

• This command tells us the data type of our information.

• In the Python interactive mode window, enter this code


and then press the enter key:
type(“hello”)

• You should then see the following:

• Class ‘str’ means that the data type of “hello” is string.


Try these examples and see what happens:
• type(1234)

• type(76.54)

• type(True)

• type(“Monty”)

• type(“4321”) The last example above may have surprised you.


Any data enclosed with “quotes” is always a string.
In programming, we sometimes need to change the data type of
information. This is known as type casting.
In Python, type casting is quite easy.

• To change data to an integer data type we use int().


• To change data to a string data type we use str().
• To change data to a float data type we use float().
• To change data to a Boolean data type we use bool().

In Python try these:


• float(13)
• int(56.32)
• int(“1234”)

A word of caution: trying to cast a string of text into an integer or float


will cause an error! Try int(“hello”) and see what happens!
Do you remember the input command we used in last lesson?

• input works fine with strings, but we have to take care with numbers.
• Try entering this Python code into the script mode window, then run
your program:
According to our program, 6 + 7 = 67!
What’s gone wrong?

Python thinks that any information we enter using input is always a string.

In other words, “6” + “7” = “67”.

Instead of adding the numbers together, the “6” and “7” are just joined together.
(The technical term for adding strings is concatenation.)

Try your program again with different numbers just to make sure.
To fix this problem, and enable us to add our numbers together, we simply make
use of the type casting method int().

Let’s see this in action …


Change your program by including int() as shown here.
Be careful to add an extra bracket at the end of the first two lines:

Running our program now gives us the correct answers.


• So far, our Python programs have been quite short.
• More complex programs can have hundreds of lines of code (or even thousands).
• When programs start to get longer, or if we come back to a program that
we’ve not looked at for a while, it’s easy to forget how our code works or
why we did things in a certain way.
• Therefore, we need a method to help us remember what our code does, and to explain it to others.
• Programmers use annotation to explain their code.
• It’s very easy to add annotation. In Python, we use a # (hashtag) at the start of each line of annotation.
• When we run our programs, Python ignores any lines that start with a #.
• Annotation is for humans, not computers.
• Using annotations is a very good programming practice, and will help you make less errors with your code.
Let’s add annotation to our program…
You can add as many lines of annotation as you like.
Notice how Python IDLE changes annotation lines into red.
• The Python programming language first appeared in February 1991.
• In a sense, we could say that this was when Python was born.
• Have you ever wondered how many days you’ve been alive?
Or hours, minutes or seconds?

Snakes Alive Quick Challenge:


In script mode write a short program that will
input your age in years, and print the number of
seconds you’ve been alive for.

Start your code like this …

Quick now, seconds


are ticking away!
Possible solution – easy version:

There are 365 days in a year,


24 hours in a day,
60 minutes in every hour,
and 60 seconds in every minute.
Therefore to find how many
seconds you’ve been alive,
multiply your age by
365 x 24 x 60 x 60
Possible solution – better version:
Variables
We can think of variables as boxes. Each box has a label, and we can store
information (data) in each box. This information can vary during the running of
a program. The boxes are emptied of data when the program ends.

Data Types
Python has four data types:
• String (text or alphanumeric information);
• Integer (a whole number, a number which is not a fraction);
• Float (a number which can be a fraction);
• Boolean (can only be one of two values, True or False).

Key Terms
Adding strings together is called concatenation
(con - cat - en - ay - shun).
Type Casting
In programming we sometimes need to change the data type of information.
This is known as type casting.

input()

input() works fine with strings, but we have to take care with numbers.

Python thinks that any information we enter using input is always a string.

Make use of type casting when using numbers  int() and float()
Annotation
Programmers use annotation to explain their code.
Annotation is useful for when programs start to get longer,
or if we come back to a program that we’ve not looked at for a while.

In Python we use a # at the start of each line of annotation.


When we run our programs, Python ignores any lines that start with a #.
Annotation is for humans, not computers. Using annotation is very good programming
practice, and will help you make less errors with your code.
Success Criteria

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