Data Compression: Mastering Type Conversion in Python
What is Type Conversion?
- Type conversion, also known as type casting, is the process of changing a variable's data type from one to another.
- Python supports both implicit (automatic) and explicit (manual) type conversion.
Implicit Type Conversion
- Python automatically converts data types in certain situations to prevent errors.
- Example: Adding an integer to a float results in a float.
Explicit Type Conversion
- We use built-in functions like `int()`, `float()`, `str()`, `bool()` etc. to explicitly change data types.
- Example: Converting a string "10" to an integer using `int("10")`.
Example: Data Compression Context
- Imagine you're storing compressed file sizes (originally floats) in a database designed for integers.
- Explicit type conversion (using `int()`) would truncate the decimal part, losing precision but saving space. This is a type of lossy compression.
- Converting from a larger data type (e.g., float) to a smaller one (e.g., int) generally leads to data compression (size reduction), albeit potentially lossy.
- Conversely, converting from a smaller type to a larger one (e.g., int to float) increases data size and may introduce loss in precision in the context of data compression.
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