Python Data Types / Data Structures:
Following are the standard or built-in data type of Python:
Numeric: In Python, numeric data type represents the data which has numeric value. Numeric value can be integer, floating number or even complex numbers. These values are defined as int, float and complex class in Python.
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Integers: This value is represented by int class. It contains positive or negative whole numbers (without fraction or decimal). In Python there is no limit to how long an integer value can be.
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Float: This value is represented by float class. It is a real number with floating point representation. It is specified by a decimal point. Optionally, the character e or E followed by a positive or negative integer may be appended to specify scientific notation.
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Complex Numbers: Complex number is represented by complex class. It is specified as (real part) + (imaginary part). For example – 2+3j
Sequence Type: In Python, sequence is the ordered collection of similar or different data types. Sequences allows to store multiple values in an organized and efficient fashion. There are several sequence types in Python –
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String: In Python, Strings are arrays of bytes representing Unicode characters. A string is a collection of one or more characters put in a single quote, double-quote or triple quote. In python there is no character data type, a character is a string of length one. It is represented by str class. Python strings are immutable, so you cannot change part of strings.
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List: Lists are one of the most versatile data type in Python. Lists are just like the arrays, declared in other languages which is an ordered collection of data. It is very flexible as the items in a list do not need to be of the same type. A list can simply be defined by writing a list of commas separated values in square brackets. Lists might contain items of different types, but usually the items all have the same type. Python lists are mutable and individual elements of a list can be changed.
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Tuple: A tuple is represented by a number of values separated by commas. Tuples are immutable and the output is surrounded by parentheses so that nested tuples are processed correctly. Additionally, even though tuples are immutable, they can hold mutable data if needed. Since Tuples are immutable and cannot change, they are faster in processing as compared to lists. Hence, if your list is unlikely to change, you should use tuples, instead of lists.
Boolean: Data type with one of the two built-in values, True or False. Boolean objects that are equal to True are truthy (true), and those equal to False are falsy (false). But non-Boolean objects can be evaluated in Boolean context as well and determined to be true or false. It is denoted by the class bool. Note – True and False with capital ‘T’ and ‘F’ are valid booleans otherwise python will throw an error.
Set: In Python, Set is an unordered collection of data type that is iterable, mutable and has no duplicate elements. The order of elements in a set is undefined though it may consist of various elements.
Dictionary: Dictionary in Python is an unordered collection of data values, used to store data values like a map, which unlike other Data Types that hold only single value as an element, Dictionary holds key-value pair. Key-value is provided in the dictionary to make it more optimized. Each key-value pair in a Dictionary is separated by a colon: whereas each key is separated by a ‘comma’. A pair of braces creates an empty dictionary: {}.