We can convert a number from one type to another. A conversion may
involve a loss of precision because we've reduced the number of bits
available. A conversion may also add a false sense of precision by adding
bits which don't have any real meaning.
Conversion Function Definitions
There are a number of conversions from one numeric type to
another.
-
int (
x
) →
integer
-
Generates an integer from the object
x
. If
x
is a
floating point number, digits to the right of the decimal point
are truncated as part of creating an integer. If the floating
point number is more than about 10 digits, a long integer object
is created to retain the precision. If
x
is a long integer that is too large
to be represented as an integer, there's no conversion. If
x
is a string, the string is parsed to
create an integer value. Complex values can't be turned into
integers directly.
-
float (
x
) →
float
-
Generates a float from object
x
.
If
x
is an integer or long integer, a
floating point number is created. Note that long integers can have
a large number of digits, but floating point numbers only have
approximately 16 digits; there can be some loss of precision.
Complex values can't turned into floating point numbers
directly.
-
long (
x
) →
long
-
Generates a long integer from
x
.
If
x
is a floating point number, digits
to the right of the decimal point are truncated as part of
creating a long integer.
-
complex (
real
,
[
imag
]) → complex
-
Generates a complex number from
real
and
imag
.
If this “
complex (
real
,
[imag]
)” syntax synopsis is
confusing, you might want to see Syntax For Newbies.
Syntax For Newbies
We'll show optional parameters to functions by surrounding them
with []'s. In the case of complex, there will be
two different ways to use the function, with one parameter,
real
, or with two parameters,
real
,
imag
. We don't
actually enter the []'s, they're just hints as to what the two forms
of the function are.
In the case of “
complex
(
real
, [
imag
]
)”, we have two choices.
>>>
complex( 2.0, 3.0 )
(2+3j)
>>>
complex( 4.0 )
(4+0j)
Conversion Function Examples
float (
x
) creates a
floating point number equal to the string or number
x
. If a string is given, it must be a valid
floating point number: digits, decimal point, and an exponent
expression. Examples: float("6.02E24"),
float(23). This is handy when doing division to prevent
getting the simple integer quotient.
For example:
>>>
print float(22)/7, 22/7
3.14285714286 3
int (
x
) creates an
integer equal to the string or number
x
. If a
string is given, it must be a valid decimal integer string. Examples:
int("1243"), int(3.14159).
long (
x
) creates a
long integer equal to the string or number
x
.
If a string is given, it must be a valid decimal integer. The expression
long(2) has the same value as the literal
2L. Examples: long(6.02E23),
long(2).
For example:
>>>
print long(2)**64
18446744073709551616
This shows the range of values possible with 64-bit integers,
available on larger computers.
Complex is not as simple as the others. A complex number has two
parts, real and imaginary. Conversion to complex typically involves two
parameters.
complex (
r
,
[
i
] ) creates a complex number with
the real part of
r
; if the second parameter,
i
, is given, this is the imaginary part of
the complex number, otherwise the imaginary part is zero. The string
must be a valid complex number. Examples:
>>>
print complex(3,2), complex(4), complex("3+4j")
(3+2j) (4+0j) (3+4j)
Note that the second parameter, with the imaginary part of the
number, is optional. This leads to a number of different ways to call
this function. In the example above, we used three variations: two
numeric parameters, one numeric parameter and one string
parameter.
