Variables are nothing but reserved memory locations to store values. This means that when you create a variable you reserve some space in memory.
Based on the data type of a variable, the interpreter allocates memory and decides what can be stored in the reserved memory. Therefore, by assigning different data types to variables, you can store integers, decimals or characters in these variables.

Table of Contents

Assigning Values to Variables

Python variables do not need explicit declaration to reserve memory space. The declaration happens automatically when you assign a value to a variable. The equal sign (=) is used to assign values to variables.
The operand to the left of the = operator is the name of the variable and the operand to the right of the = operator is the value stored in the variable. For example −


#!/usr/bin/python

counter = 100 # An integer assignment
miles = 1000.0 # A floating point
name = "John" # A string

print counter
print miles
print name

Here, 100, 1000.0 and “John” are the values assigned to counter, miles, and name variables, respectively. This produces the following result −
100
1000.0
John

Multiple Assignment

Python allows you to assign a single value to several variables simultaneously. For example −
a = b = c = 1
Here, an integer object is created with the value 1, and all three variables are assigned to the same memory location. You can also assign multiple objects to multiple variables. For example −
a,b,c = 1,2,”john”
Here, two integer objects with values 1 and 2 are assigned to variables a and b respectively, and one string object with the value “john” is assigned to the variable c.

Standard Data Types

The data stored in memory can be of many types. For example, a person’s age is stored as a numeric value and his or her address is stored as alphanumeric characters. Python has various standard data types that are used to define the operations possible on them and the storage method for each of them.
Python has five standard data types −
• Numbers
• String
• List
• Tuple
• Dictionary

Python Numbers

Number data types store numeric values. Number objects are created when you assign a value to them. For example −
var1 = 1
var2 = 10
You can also delete the reference to a number object by using the del statement. The syntax of the del statement is −
del var1[,var2[,var3[….,varN]]]]
You can delete a single object or multiple objects by using the del statement. For example −
del var
del var_a, var_b
Python supports four different numerical types −
• int (signed integers)
• long (long integers, they can also be represented in octal and hexadecimal)
• float (floating point real values)
• complex (complex numbers)

Examples

Here are some examples of numbers −

int	long	float	complex
10	51924361L	0.0	3.14j
100	-0x19323L	15.20	45.j
-786	0122L	-21.9	9.322e-36j
080	0xDEFABCECBDAECBFBAEl	32.3+e18	.876j
-0490	535633629843L	-90.	-.6545+0J
-0x260	-052318172735L	-32.54e100	3e+26J
0x69	-4721885298529L	70.2-E12	4.53e-7j

• Python allows you to use a lowercase l with long, but it is recommended that you use only an uppercase L to avoid confusion with the number 1. Python displays long integers with an uppercase L.
• A complex number consists of an ordered pair of real floating-point numbers denoted by x + yj, where x and y are the real numbers and j is the imaginary unit.

Python Strings

Strings in Python are identified as a contiguous set of characters represented in the quotation marks. Python allows for either pairs of single or double quotes. Subsets of strings can be taken using the slice operator ([ ] and [:] ) with indexes starting at 0 in the beginning of the string and working their way from -1 at the end.
The plus (+) sign is the string concatenation operator and the asterisk (*) is the repetition operator. For example −


#!/usr/bin/python

str = 'Hello World!'

print str # Prints complete string
print str[0] # Prints first character of the string
print str[2:5] # Prints characters starting from 3rd to 5th
print str[2:] # Prints string starting from 3rd character
print str * 2 # Prints string two times
print str + "TEST" # Prints concatenated string

This will produce the following result −
Hello World!
H
llo
llo World!
Hello World!Hello World!
Hello World!TEST

Python Lists

Lists are the most versatile of Python’s compound data types. A list contains items separated by commas and enclosed within square brackets ([]). To some extent, lists are similar to arrays in C. One difference between them is that all the items belonging to a list can be of different data type.
The values stored in a list can be accessed using the slice operator ([ ] and [:]) with indexes starting at 0 in the beginning of the list and working their way to end -1. The plus (+) sign is the list concatenation operator, and the asterisk (*) is the repetition operator. For example −


#!/usr/bin/python

list = [ 'abcd', 786 , 2.23, 'john', 70.2 ]
tinylist = [123, 'john']

print list # Prints complete list
print list[0] # Prints first element of the list
print list[1:3] # Prints elements starting from 2nd till 3rd 
print list[2:] # Prints elements starting from 3rd element
print tinylist * 2 # Prints list two times
print list + tinylist # Prints concatenated lists

This produce the following result −
[‘abcd’, 786, 2.23, ‘john’, 70.2]
abcd
[786, 2.23]
[2.23, ‘john’, 70.2]
[123, ‘john’, 123, ‘john’]
[‘abcd’, 786, 2.23, ‘john’, 70.2, 123, ‘john’]

Python Tuples

A tuple is another sequence data type that is similar to the list. A tuple consists of a number of values separated by commas. Unlike lists, however, tuples are enclosed within parentheses.
The main differences between lists and tuples are: Lists are enclosed in brackets ( [ ] ) and their elements and size can be changed, while tuples are enclosed in parentheses ( ( ) ) and cannot be updated. Tuples can be thought of as read-only lists. For example −


#!/usr/bin/python

tuple = ( 'abcd', 786 , 2.23, 'john', 70.2 )
tinytuple = (123, 'john')

print tuple # Prints complete list
print tuple[0] # Prints first element of the list
print tuple[1:3] # Prints elements starting from 2nd till 3rd 
print tuple[2:] # Prints elements starting from 3rd element
print tinytuple * 2 # Prints list two times
print tuple + tinytuple # Prints concatenated lists

This produce the following result −
(‘abcd’, 786, 2.23, ‘john’, 70.2)
abcd
(786, 2.23)
(2.23, ‘john’, 70.2)
(123, ‘john’, 123, ‘john’)
(‘abcd’, 786, 2.23, ‘john’, 70.2, 123, ‘john’)
The following code is invalid with tuple, because we attempted to update a tuple, which is not allowed. Similar case is possible with lists −

#!/usr/bin/python

tuple = ( 'abcd', 786 , 2.23, 'john', 70.2 )
list = [ 'abcd', 786 , 2.23, 'john', 70.2 ]
tuple[2] = 1000 # Invalid syntax with tuple
list[2] = 1000 # Valid syntax with list

Python Dictionary

Python’s dictionaries are kind of hash table type. They work like associative arrays or hashes found in Perl and consist of key-value pairs. A dictionary key can be almost any Python type, but are usually numbers or strings. Values, on the other hand, can be any arbitrary Python object.
Dictionaries are enclosed by curly braces ({ }) and values can be assigned and accessed using square braces ([]). For example −


#!/usr/bin/python

dict = {}
dict['one'] = "This is one"
dict[2] = "This is two"

tinydict = {'name': 'john','code':6734, 'dept': 'sales'}


print dict['one'] # Prints value for 'one' key
print dict[2] # Prints value for 2 key
print tinydict # Prints complete dictionary
print tinydict.keys() # Prints all the keys
print tinydict.values() # Prints all the values

This produce the following result −
This is one
This is two
{‘dept’: ‘sales’, ‘code’: 6734, ‘name’: ‘john’}
[‘dept’, ‘code’, ‘name’]
[‘sales’, 6734, ‘john’]
Dictionaries have no concept of order among elements. It is incorrect to say that the elements are “out of order”; they are simply unordered.

Data Type Conversion

Sometimes, you may need to perform conversions between the built-in types. To convert between types, you simply use the type name as a function.

There are several built-in functions to perform conversion from one data type to another. These functions return a new object representing the converted value.

Sr.No.	Function & Description
1	int(x [,base]) Converts x to an integer. base specifies the base if x is a string.
2	long(x [,base] ) Converts x to a long integer. base specifies the base if x is a string.
3	float(x) Converts x to a floating-point number.
4	complex(real [,imag]) Creates a complex number.
5	str(x) Converts object x to a string representation.
6	repr(x) Converts object x to an expression string.
7	eval(str) Evaluates a string and returns an object.
8	tuple(s) Converts s to a tuple.
9	list(s) Converts s to a list.
10	set(s) Converts s to a set.
11	dict(d) Creates a dictionary. d must be a sequence of (key,value) tuples.
12	frozenset(s) Converts s to a frozen set.
13	chr(x) Converts an integer to a character.
14	unichr(x) Converts an integer to a Unicode character.
15	ord(x) Converts a single character to its integer value.
16	hex(x) Converts an integer to a hexadecimal string.
17	oct(x) Converts an integer to an octal string.

Python – Basic Operators

Operators are the constructs which can manipulate the value of operands.
Consider the expression 4 + 5 = 9. Here, 4 and 5 are called operands and + is called operator.

Types of Operator

Python language supports the following types of operators.
• Arithmetic Operators
• Comparison (Relational) Operators
• Assignment Operators
• Logical Operators
• Bitwise Operators
• Membership Operators
• Identity Operators
Let us have a look on all operators one by one.

Python Arithmetic Operators

Assume variable a holds 10 and variable b holds 20, then −

Operator	Description	Example
+ Addition	Adds values on either side of the operator.	a + b = 30
– Subtraction	Subtracts right hand operand from left hand operand.	a – b = -10
* Multiplication	Multiplies values on either side of the operator	a * b = 200
/ Division	Divides left hand operand by right hand operand	b / a = 2
% Modulus	Divides left hand operand by right hand operand and returns remainder	b % a = 0
** Exponent	Performs exponential (power) calculation on operators	a**b =10 to the power 20
//	Floor Division – The division of operands where the result is the quotient in which the digits after the decimal point are removed. But if one of the operands is negative, the result is floored, i.e., rounded away from zero (towards negative infinity) −	9//2 = 4 and 9.0//2.0 = 4.0, -11//3 = -4, -11.0//3 = -4.0

Python Comparison Operators

These operators compare the values on either sides of them and decide the relation among them. They are also called Relational operators.
Assume variable a holds 10 and variable b holds 20, then −

Operator	Description	Example
==	If the values of two operands are equal, then the condition becomes true.	(a == b) is not true.
!=	If values of two operands are not equal, then condition becomes true.	(a != b) is true.
<>	If values of two operands are not equal, then condition becomes true.	(a <> b) is true. This is similar to != operator.
>	If the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand, then condition becomes true.	(a > b) is not true.
<	If the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand, then condition becomes true.	(a < b) is true.
>=	If the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand, then condition becomes true.	(a >= b) is not true.
<=	If the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand, then condition becomes true.	(a <= b) is true.

Python Assignment Operators

Assume variable a holds 10 and variable b holds 20, then −

Operator	Description	Example
=	Assigns values from right side operands to left side operand	c = a + b assigns value of a + b into c
+= Add AND	It adds right operand to the left operand and assign the result to left operand	c += a is equivalent to c = c + a
-= Subtract AND	It subtracts right operand from the left operand and assign the result to left operand	c -= a is equivalent to c = c – a
*= Multiply AND	It multiplies right operand with the left operand and assign the result to left operand	c = a is equivalent to c = c a
/= Divide AND	It divides left operand with the right operand and assign the result to left operand	c /= a is equivalent to c = c / a
%= Modulus AND	It takes modulus using two operands and assign the result to left operand	c %= a is equivalent to c = c % a
**= Exponent AND	Performs exponential (power) calculation on operators and assign value to the left operand	c = a is equivalent to c = c a
//= Floor Division	It performs floor division on operators and assign value to the left operand	c //= a is equivalent to c = c // a

Python Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operator works on bits and performs bit by bit operation. Assume if a = 60; and b = 13; Now in the binary format their values will be 0011 1100 and 0000 1101 respectively. Following table lists out the bitwise operators supported by Python language with an example each in those, we use the above two variables (a and b) as operands −
a = 0011 1100
b = 0000 1101
—————–
a&b = 0000 1100
a|b = 0011 1101
a^b = 0011 0001
~a = 1100 0011
There are following Bitwise operators supported by Python language

Operator	Description	Example
& Binary AND	Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands	(a & b) (means 0000 1100)
\| Binary OR	It copies a bit if it exists in either operand.	(a \| b) = 61 (means 0011 1101)
^ Binary XOR	It copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both.	(a ^ b) = 49 (means 0011 0001)
~ Binary Ones Complement	It is unary and has the effect of ‘flipping’ bits.	(~a ) = -61 (means 1100 0011 in 2’s complement form due to a signed binary number.
<< Binary Left Shift	The left operands value is moved left by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	a << 2 = 240 (means 1111 0000)
>> Binary Right Shift	The left operands value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand.	a >> 2 = 15 (means 0000 1111)

Python Logical Operators

There are following logical operators supported by Python language. Assume variable a holds 10 and variable b holds 20 then

Operator	Description	Example
and Logical AND	If both the operands are true then condition becomes true.	(a and b) is true.
or Logical OR	If any of the two operands are non-zero then condition becomes true.	(a or b) is true.
not Logical NOT	Used to reverse the logical state of its operand.	Not(a and b) is false.

Python Membership Operators

Python’s membership operators test for membership in a sequence, such as strings, lists, or tuples. There are two membership operators as explained below −

Operator	Description	Example
in	Evaluates to true if it finds a variable in the specified sequence and false otherwise.	x in y, here in results in a 1 if x is a member of sequence y.
not in	Evaluates to true if it does not finds a variable in the specified sequence and false otherwise.	x not in y, here not in results in a 1 if x is not a member of sequence y.

Python Identity Operators

Identity operators compare the memory locations of two objects. There are two Identity operators explained below −

Operator	Description	Example
is	Evaluates to true if the variables on either side of the operator point to the same object and false otherwise.	x is y, here is results in 1 if id(x) equals id(y).
is not	Evaluates to false if the variables on either side of the operator point to the same object and true otherwise.	x is not y, here is not results in 1 if id(x) is not equal to id(y).

Python Operators Precedence

The following table lists all operators from highest precedence to lowest.

Sr.No.	Operator & Description
1	** Exponentiation (raise to the power)
2	~ + – Complement, unary plus and minus (method names for the last two are +@ and -@)
3	* / % // Multiply, divide, modulo and floor division
4	+ – Addition and subtraction
5	>> << Right and left bitwise shift
6	& Bitwise ‘AND’
7	^ \| Bitwise exclusive `OR’ and regular `OR’
8	<= < > >= Comparison operators
9	<> == != Equality operators
10	*= %= /= //= -= += = = Assignment operators
11	is is not Identity operators
12	in not in Membership operators
13	not or and Logical operators

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