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What are Data Types?

Every value in Python has a data type that tells Python what kind of data it is and what operations can be performed on it. Understanding data types is essential for writing correct programs.

The 4 Core Data Types

The number 42 displayed in bold representing the integer data type — int — Whole Numbers

The number 3.14 displayed representing the float decimal data type — float — Decimals

The word Hello in quotation marks representing the string text data type — str — Text

True and False labels with a toggle switch representing the boolean data type — bool — True / False

Python Data Types

Data Type	Keyword	Example	Description
Integer	int	age = 15	Whole numbers, positive or negative
Float	float	height = 1.75	Decimal numbers
String	str	name = "Tobi"	Text — always in quotes
Boolean	bool	is_student = True	True or False values only

Checking Data Types

You can check the data type of any variable using the type() function.

name = "Tobi" age = 15 height = 1.75 is_student = True print(type(name)) # <class 'str'> print(type(age)) # <class 'int'> print(type(height)) # <class 'float'> print(type(is_student)) # <class 'bool')

Type Conversion

Sometimes you need to convert a value from one data type to another. This is called type conversion or type casting.

Diagram showing arrows between data types — a string 25 being converted to integer 25 and float 25.0, with the int(), float(), and str() function labels on the arrows

Type Conversion Functions

Function	Converts To	Example
int()	Integer	int("15") → 15
float()	Float	float("3.14") → 3.14
str()	String	str(100) → "100"
bool()	Boolean	bool(0) → False

When getting input from a user with input(), Python always returns a string. If you need a number, you must convert it using int() or float()!