Python Variables

Variables are used to tag the data. They act as references for data or objects.

Creating Variables

Python is implicitly defined hence creating variables only requires:

1. Variable Name

2. '=' : assignment operator

3. Value

# variable = value
a = 1 # int
b = 1.3 # float
c = 1+2j # complex
d = "hello" # str
e = [1, 2, 3, 2] # list
f = (1, 2, 3, 2) # tuple
g = {"a": "apple"} # dict
h = {1, 2, 3} # set

Variable Nomenclature

A variable name must obey all three rules in Python:

1. It must consist of only A-Za-z0-9_
2. It must not begin with digits 0-9
3. It must not be a keyword. import keyword; print(keyword.kwlist)

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Assignment Operator

= is used as assignment operator whereas == is used for comparison. = works right-side to left-side in a code statement.

LHS ← RHS

Multiple Assignments

Python allows for multiple values to be assigned multiple variable references in the same statement.

x, y, z = 1, 2, 3
x = y = z = 0

Type() Function

type(object) takes a variable or an object and returns its object type.

>>> x = "hello"
>>> type(x)
str

Input/Output Variable

A built-in input() provides a console interface for any input value. The default data type is str.

For publishing a value from variable reference simply use the built-in function print().

>>> x = input("Enter something: ")
>>> print(x)

Typecasting

eval() function can evaluate any value to its correct data type. Formatting is required such as string must use quotes and list must use [] etc.

Apart from eval() function the respective data type function can also be used for type casting. Eg: int(), float(), complex(), str(), list(), tuple(), dict(), set()

>>> x = input()
1
>>> type(x)
str

>>> x = eval(input())
1
>>> type(x)
int

Python Global Variable

Variables that are defined outside any function definition and directly under the module namespace are called global. The scope of global variables is the entire module.