VA R I A B L E S 25
LINGO
Integers and floats
In coding, whole numbers are called “integers”,
while numbers with a decimal point in them
are known as “floats”. Programs usually count
things using integers. Floats are more often
used for measurements. 0.5 sheep
1 sheep (an integer) (a float)
Using numbers Symbol Meaning
Variables can be used to store numbers and do sums. + add
You can use them with symbols to do calculations, – subtract
just like you do in maths. Some of these symbols will * multiply
be familiar, but watch out for the symbols meaning / divide
“multiply” and “divide”—they’re slightly different
from the ones you use in class. Some of the Python math symbols
Create a new variable, x, and give it the value 6.
1 A simple calculation
Type this code in a shell window. It uses >>> x = 6
numbers stored in two variables, named x >>> y = x * 7
and y, to carry out a simple multiplication.
>>> print(y)
Hit the enter/return key to get the answer.
42
Print the Multiply x by 7 and
value of y. store the result in y.
The result of the calculation
Change the value of x.
2 Change a value
To change the value of a variable, you just >>> x = 10
assign a new value to it. In your code, change >>> print(y)
the value of x to 10 and run the calculation
42
again. What do you expect the result to be?
The result hasn’t changed;
next we’ll find out why. Update the value of y.
3 Update the value
The value of y needs to be updated to get the >>> x = 10
correct result. Type these lines. Now the code >>> y = x * 7
assigns the new value to y after x has been
>>> print(y)
changed. If you update the value of one
variable in your own programs, always check 70
to see if you need to update any others.
