Variables & Data Types

What is a Variable?

A variable is a name used to store a value in a Python program.

You can think of a variable as a container that holds some information.

name = "Alex"
age = 18

In this example, name stores a string and age stores an integer.

Creating Variables

Python does not require a separate command to declare a variable.

student = "Rahul"
marks = 85
price = 99.50

Python automatically determines the type of value stored in the variable.

Variable Naming Rules

Follow these basic rules when creating variable names:

Python Data Types

A data type tells Python what kind of value is stored.

Integer — int

The int type represents whole numbers without a decimal point.

age = 18
marks = 95

print(age)
print(marks)

Float — float

The float type represents numbers containing a decimal point.

price = 99.50
height = 5.8

print(price)
print(height)

String — str

A string is a sequence of characters enclosed inside quotes.

name = "Sudhanshu"
city = "Patna"

print(name)
print(city)

Boolean — bool

A Boolean value can be either True or False.

is_student = True
is_teacher = False

print(is_student)
print(is_teacher)

Checking Data Type

Python provides the type() function to find the data type of a value.

age = 18
name = "Alex"

print(type(age))
print(type(name))

Output

Type Conversion

Type conversion means changing a value from one data type to another.

number = "25"

number = int(number)

print(number)

Common conversion functions include:

Quick Quiz

Test your understanding of variables and data types.