Type Inspection

Finding Out a Variable's Type

Every value in Python has a type — it determines what you can do with that value. You can't multiply text! Python needs to know if something is a number, text, or something else.

The

type()

x = 42
y = 3.14
z = "hello"

print(type(x))    # → <class 'int'>
print(type(y))    # → <class 'float'>
print(type(z))    # → <class 'str'>

Here's what each type means:

int

42

-7

0

float

3.14

-0.5

1.0

str

"hello"

'world'

bool

True

False

Why Does Type Matter?

Because types determine what operations are allowed:

print(5 + 3)         # → 8  (number + number = math)
print("Hello" + "!")  # → Hello!  (text + text = join)
print("Hello" + 5)   # ❌ ERROR! Can't add text and number

💡

💡 Debugging tip: If your code crashes unexpectedly, check the types of your variables with

type()

. The problem is often a type mismatch!