2.2: Variables

One of the most powerful features of a programming language is the ability to manipulate variables. A variable is a name that refers to a value.

An assignment statement creates new variables and gives them values:

>>> message = 'And now for something completely different'
>>> n = 17
>>> pi = 3.1415926535897931

This example makes three assignments. The first assigns a string to a new variable named message; the second assigns the integer 17 to n; the third assigns the (approximate) value of π to pi.

To display the value of a variable, you can use a print statement:

>>> print(n)
17
>>> print(pi)
3.141592653589793

The type of a variable is the type of the value it refers to.

>>> type(message)
<class 'str'>
>>> type(n)
<class 'int'>
>>> type(pi)
<class 'float'>

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