Data types in Python

Python has a variety of built-in data types that are used to represent different kinds of values in a program. These data types can be broadly classified into the following categories:

  1. Numeric Types: Numeric types represent numbers. Python supports three numeric types: integers, floating-point numbers, and complex numbers.
    • Integers: Integers are whole numbers with no decimal point. They can be positive, negative, or zero.
    • Floating-point numbers: Floating-point numbers are decimal numbers. They can be positive, negative, or zero. They are represented with a decimal point or in scientific notation.
    • Complex numbers: Complex numbers consist of a real part and an imaginary part. They are represented using the j suffix or the complex() constructor.
  2. Boolean Type: The Boolean type represents the truth values True and False. It is used in conditional statements and logical operations.
  3. Sequence Types: Sequence types represent collections of values. Python supports four sequence types: strings, lists, tuples, and range objects.
    • Strings: Strings represent sequences of characters. They are enclosed in single or double quotes.
    • Lists: Lists represent ordered collections of values. They can contain any type of data and are enclosed in square brackets.
    • Tuples: Tuples are similar to lists, but they are immutable, which means that their values cannot be changed once they are created. They are enclosed in parentheses.
    • Range objects: Range objects represent sequences of integers. They are often used in for loops.
  4. Mapping Types: Mapping types represent collections of key-value pairs. Python supports one mapping type: dictionaries.
    • Dictionaries: Dictionaries consist of a collection of key-value pairs. They are enclosed in curly braces and each key-value pair is separated by a colon.
  5. Set Types: Set types represent collections of unique values. Python supports two set types: sets and frozensets.
    • Sets: Sets are unordered collections of unique values. They are enclosed in curly braces.
    • Frozensets: Frozensets are similar to sets, but they are immutable.
  6. Binary Types: Binary types represent sequences of bytes. Python supports two binary types: bytes and bytearrays.
    • Bytes: Bytes represent immutable sequences of bytes. They are often used to represent binary data such as images or audio files.
    • Bytearrays: Bytearrays are similar to bytes, but they are mutable.

Understanding these data types and their properties is crucial for writing efficient and bug-free Python programs. By selecting the appropriate data type for a given task, you can optimize your code and ensure that it runs smoothly.