Python Floating Points - ashish9342/FreeCodeCamp GitHub Wiki
Some general information about floating point numbers and how they work in Python, can be found here.
Nearly all implementations of Python follow the IEEE 754 specification: Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic. More information found on the IEEE site.
Float objects can be created using using floating point literals:
>>> 3.14
3.14
>>> 314\. # Trailing zero(s) not required.
314.0
>>> .314 # Leading zero(s) not required.
0.314
>>> 3e0
3.0
>>> 3E0 # 'e' or 'E' can be used.
3.0
>>> 3e1 # Positive value after e moves the decimal to the right.
30.0
>>> 3e-1 # Negative value after e moves the decimal to the left.
0.3
>>> 3.14e+2 # '+' not required but can be used for exponent part.
314.0Numeric literals do not contain a sign, however creating negative float objects is possible by prefixing with a unary - (minus) operator with no space before the literal
>>> -3.141592653589793
-3.141592653589793
>>> type(-3.141592653589793)
<class 'float'>Likewise, positive float objects can be prefixed with a unary + (plus) operator with no space before the literal. Usually + is omitted:
>>> +3.141592653589793
3.141592653589793Note that leading and trailing zero(s) are valid for floating point literals
>>> 0.0
0.0
>>> 00.00
0.0
>>> 00100.00100
100.001
>>> 001e0010 # Same as 1e10
10000000000.0The float constructor is another way to create float objects.
Creating float objects with floating point literals is preferred when possible:
>>> a = 3.14 # Prefer floating point literal when possible.
>>> type(a)
<class 'float'>
>>> b = int(3.14) # Works but unnecessary.
>>> type(b)
<class 'float'>However, the float constructor allows for creating float objects from other number types:
>>> a = 4
>>> type(a)
<class 'int'>
>>> print(a)
4
>>> b = float(4)
>>> type(b)
<class 'float'>
>>> print(b)
4.0
>>> float(400000000000000000000000000000000)
4e+32
>>> float(.00000000000000000000000000000004)
4e-32
>>> float(True)
1.0
>>> float(False)
0.0The float constructor will also make float objects from strings that represent number literals:
>>> float('1')
1.0
>>> float('.1')
0.1
>>> float('3.')
3.0
>>> float('1e-3')
0.001
>>> float('3.14')
3.14
>>> float('-.15e-2')
-0.0015The float constructor can also be used to make numeric representation of NaN (Not a Number), negative infinity and infinity (note strings for these are case insensitive):
>>> float('nan')
nan
>>> float('inf')
inf
>>> float('-inf')
-inf
>>> float('infinity')
inf
>>> float('-infinity')
-inf