Python Syntax

[Craftsman_2222]

I'm using codecademy to learn the basics of Python and was wondering why they had me doing things certain ways even if my way put out the same output. 

 

The example I'm at is as follows:

 

print "The value of pi is around " + 3.14

it wants me to turn 3.14 into a string using str() like this;

print "The value of pi is around " + str(3.14)

but I don't understand why I couldn't have it like this;

print "The value of pi is around " + "3.14"

Would both ways work and one is more correct than the other? 

I've dealt with some programming before but was just curious about this.

[fizzlesticks]

It wants you to do it like that because if 3.14 was a variable you wouldn't be able to just add quotes around it. The proper way to do it if you have a literal number like that would be to just put it inside the rest of the string.

print "The value of pi is around 3.14"

 

The trick to doing code academy is hitting the little x on the tab and finding a better place to learn, preferably a place that teaches Python 3.

[RedWulf]

you can get into the argument of which is more pythonic but truthfully you can do whatever if it suits your needs though as the snake above said it just wants to be sure you get it as a text not a variable or number. 

I also agree you should learn from a better source or atleast look at other sources as well especially for python 3-3.5 

in python 3 

pi = 3.14159265

print ('The value of pi is',pi)

[ThiefZero]

Not sure how casting works in Python, but I think they want you to do it in that specific way so you can learn how to cast.

 

The first form is to turn a variable with the float type into a string.

The second form is to hard code it into the desired string.

 

The first will teach you how to cast, and you can swap

str()

for other things, such as converting an integer into a

float()

, presumably. Oh, and you can also swap

3.14

with a variable name, such as

str(pi)

if you had defined pi as a constant.

Doing it way #2 won't, I think with my limited knowledge of Python.

[mathijs727]

print("The value of pi is around", 3.14)
print("The value of pi is around %f" % 3.14)
print("The value of pi is around {0}".format(3.14))

 

[Spartaton]

On 5/21/2016 at 10:05 PM, Craftsman_2222 said:

I'm using codecademy to learn the basics of Python and was wondering why they had me doing things certain ways even if my way put out the same output. 

 

The example I'm at is as follows:

 

print "The value of pi is around " + 3.14

it wants me to turn 3.14 into a string using str() like this;

print "The value of pi is around " + str(3.14)

but I don't understand why I couldn't have it like this;

print "The value of pi is around " + "3.14"

Would both ways work and one is more correct than the other? 

I've dealt with some programming before but was just curious about this.

Codecademy can be pretty stupid sometimes in how they want you to do stuff. It's probably just so you know str() is a thing since I'm pretty sure Codecademy is meant for those with no experience.