Indentation
if 5 > 2:
print("Five is greater than two!")
Example
Check the Python version of the editor:
import sys
print(sys.version)
exit()
Variables do not need to be declared with any particular type, and can even change type after they have
been set.
Example
x=4 # x is of type int
x = "Sally" # x is now of type str
print(x)
Casting
If you want to specify the data type of a variable, this can be done with casting.
Example
x = str(3) # x will be '3'
y = int(3) # y will be 3
z = float(3) # z will be 3.0
Single or Double Quotes?
String variables can be declared either by using single or double quotes:
Example
x = "John"
# is the same as
x = 'John'
Case-Sensitive
Variable names are case-sensitive.
Example
This will create two variables:
a=4
A = "Sally"
#A will not overwrite a
Try it Yourself »
Variable Names
A variable can have a short name (like x and y) or a more descriptive name (age, carname, total_volume).
Rules for Python variables:
A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore character
A variable name cannot start with a number
A variable name can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
Variable names are case-sensitive (age, Age and AGE are three different variables)
A variable name cannot be any of the Python keywords.
Example
Illegal variable names:
2myvar = "John"
my-var = "John"
my var = "John"
Multi Words Variable Names
Variable names with more than one word can be difficult to read.
There are several techniques you can use to make them more readable:
Camel Case
Each word, except the first, starts with a capital letter:
myVariableName = "John"
Pascal Case
Each word starts with a capital letter:
MyVariableName = "John"
Snake Case
Each word is separated by an underscore character:
my_variable_name = "John"
Many Values to Multiple Variables
Python allows you to assign values to multiple variables in one line:
ExampleGet your own Python Server
x, y, z = "Orange", "Banana", "Cherry"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
Try it Yourself »
One Value to Multiple Variables
And you can assign the same value to multiple variables in one line:
Example
x = y = z = "Orange"
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
Unpack a Collection
If you have a collection of values in a list, tuple etc. Python allows you to extract the values into
variables. This is called unpacking.
Example
Unpack a list:
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
x, y, z = fruits
print(x)
print(y)
print(z)
In the print() function, you output multiple variables, separated by a comma:
Example
x = "Python"
y = "is"
z = "awesome"
print(x, y, z)
You can also use the + operator to output multiple variables:
Example
x = "Python "
y = "is "
z = "awesome"
print(x + y + z)
Try it Yourself »
ExampleGet your own Python Server
Create a variable outside of a function, and use it inside the function
x = "awesome"
def myfunc():
print("Python is " + x)
myfunc()
Example
If you use the global keyword, the variable belongs to the global scope:
def myfunc():
global x
x = "fantastic"
myfunc()
print("Python is " + x)
Try it Yourself »
Also, use the global keyword if you want to change a global variable inside a function.
Built-in Data Types
In programming, data type is an important concept.
Variables can store data of different types, and different types can do different things.
Python has the following data types built-in by default, in these categories:
Text Type: str
Numeric Types: int, float, complex
Sequence Types: list, tuple, range
Mapping Type: dict
Set Types: set, frozenset
Boolean Type: bool
Binary Types: bytes, bytearray, memoryview
None Type: NoneType
