How to Convert a String to a Float in Python

Strings and floats are both data types in Python.
However, sometimes you have a string that you want to convert to a float.
In this post, we will learn how to convert a string to a float in Python.
How to convert a string to a float in Python
Let's start off with our string that we want to convert to a float:
string_to_convert = "1.23"
print(type(string_to_convert))
<class 'str'>
Now, we can use the built-in float
method that takes in a string and attempts to convert it to a float:
string_to_convert = "1.23"
float_value = float(string_to_convert)
print(type(float_value))
<class 'float'>
We were able to confirm via the print statement that the string was converted to a float.
Now we can print out the float value itself to see the result:
string_to_convert = "1.23"
float_value = float(string_to_convert)
print(float_value)
1.23
Keep in mind that if the string you pass in is not a valid float, then you will get an error when Python tries to convert the value.
Here's an example:
string_to_convert = "1.23a"
float_value = float(string_to_convert)
print(float_value)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<string>", line 3, in <module>
ValueError: could not convert string to float: '1.23a'
As long as you ensure the string you pass in is a valid float, then you will get a float value without issues.
Conclusion
In this post, we learned how to convert a string to a float in Python.
Simply pass in a valid string to the float
method and you will get back a valid float value.
Thanks for reading!
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