Understanding how Python handles different types of data is essential for writing clean and effective code. Here’s a quick overview of the basic data types and how to work with them.
Basic Data Types
Python provides several built-in data types that are commonly used in data engineering tasks such as data processing, validation, and transformation.
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
int |
Whole numbers |
age = 30 |
|
float |
Decimal numbers |
price = 19.99 |
|
str |
Text (strings) |
name = “Alice”
|
|
bool |
Boolean (True/False) |
Boolean (True/False) |
Each variable stores a value of a specific type:
age = 30 # int
price = 19.99 # float
name = "Alice" # str
is_active = True # bool
Type Conversion (Casting)
You can convert between types using built-in functions like int(), float(), str(), and bool().
Example:
Converting a string to an integer
age = 30 # int
price = 19.99 # float
name = "Alice" # str
is_active = True # bool
This is useful when reading input from users or files, where data often comes in as strings.