Determine the type of a Python variable
David Y.
The Problem
How can I determine a Python variable’s type?
The Solution
We can determine a Python variable’s type using the built-in function type(). This will work for built-in types as well as our own classes. Some examples are given below:
my_integer = 1 print(type(my_integer)) # will print "<class 'int'>" my_float = 1.1 print(type(my_float)) # will print "<class 'float'>" my_string = "Hello world!" print(type(my_string)) # will print "<class 'str'>" class MyClass: pass my_class_instance = MyClass() print(type(my_class_instance)) # will print "<class '__main__.MyClass'>"
As per the Python documentation, the function isinstance() should be used when testing whether a variable is of a specific class, as it takes subclasses into account, which type() does not.
Ask a questionImprove this Answer
Related Answers
- Access the index of a for loop
- Accessing the Index in a `for` Loop in Python
- Append vs. extend in Python
- Change the size of figures drawn with Matplotlib in Python
- Check if a dictionary contains a key in Python
- Check if a list is empty in Python
- Concatenate two lists in Python
- Convert a list to a string in Python
- Convert an integer to a string in Python
- Convert bytes to a string in Python
- Convert a string containing a date into datetime in Python
- Delete a file or folder in Python
- Difference between `@staticmethod` and `@classmethod` function decorators in Python
- Extract a substring from a string in Python
- How to manage feature flags without making performance worse
- Find the current directory and executed file's directory in Python
- Get the length of a list in Python
- How do I parse a string to a float or int?
- What does `if __name__ == "__main__":` do?
- Iterate over rows in a Pandas DataFrame in Python
- Limit floats to two decimal points in Python
- Is There a List of pytz Timezones?
- Lowercase a string in Python
- Making a list out of a list of lists in Python?
- Pandas DataFrame row count in Python
- Add new keys to a dictionary in Python
- Sort a dictionary by value in Python
- Iterate over a dictionary in Python
- List files in a directory using Python
- How Do I Merge Two Dictionaries in a Single Expression (Take Union of Dictionaries)?
- How Can I Safely Create a Nested Directory?
- Python slice notation
- Does Python Have a Ternary Conditional Operator?
- What Does the `yield` Keyword in Python Do?
- Read a file line by line into a list Python
- Remove element from a list by index in Python
- Rename columns in a Python Pandas DataFrame
- Running External Programs in Python
- Select multiple columns in Python Pandas
- Select rows from a Python Pandas DataFrame based on column values
- TypeError 'str' Object Does Not Support Item Assignment
- Time delay in Python
- UnboundLocalError Local Variable 'index' Referenced Before Assignment
- Upgrade specific `pip` packages in Python
- Use global variables in Python functions
- What are Python Metaclasses?