How can I convert an str to a float?

"545.2222" -> 545.2222

Or an str to a int?

"31" -> 31

_{For the reverse, see Convert integer to string in Python and Converting a float to a string without rounding it.}

_{Please instead use How can I read inputs as numbers? to close duplicate questions where OP received a string from user input and immediately wants to convert it, or was hoping for input (in 3.x) to convert the type automatically.}

>>> a = "545.2222"
>>> float(a)
545.22220000000004
>>> int(float(a))
545

Python2 method to check if a string is a float:

def is_float(value):
  if value is None:
      return False
  try:
      float(value)
      return True
  except:
      return False

For the Python3 version of is_float see: Checking if a string can be converted to float in Python

A longer and more accurate name for this function could be: is_convertible_to_float(value)

What is, and is not a float in Python may surprise you:

The below unit tests were done using python2. Check it that Python3 has different behavior for what strings are convertable to float. One confounding difference is that any number of interior underscores are now allowed: (float("1_3.4") == float(13.4)) is True

val                   is_float(val) Note
--------------------  ----------   --------------------------------
""                    False        Blank string
"127"                 True         Passed string
True                  True         Pure sweet Truth
"True"                False        Vile contemptible lie
False                 True         So false it becomes true
"123.456"             True         Decimal
"      -127    "      True         Spaces trimmed
"\t\n12\r\n"          True         whitespace ignored
"NaN"                 True         Not a number
"NaNanananaBATMAN"    False        I am Batman
"-iNF"                True         Negative infinity
"123.E4"              True         Exponential notation
".1"                  True         mantissa only
"1_2_3.4"             False        Underscores not allowed
"12 34"               False        Spaces not allowed on interior
"1,234"               False        Commas gtfo
u'\x30'               True         Unicode is fine.
"NULL"                False        Null is not special
0x3fade               True         Hexadecimal
"6e7777777777777"     True         Shrunk to infinity
"1.797693e+308"       True         This is max value
"infinity"            True         Same as inf
"infinityandBEYOND"   False        Extra characters wreck it
"12.34.56"            False        Only one dot allowed
u'四'                 False        Japanese '4' is not a float.
"#56"                 False        Pound sign
"56%"                 False        Percent of what?
"0E0"                 True         Exponential, move dot 0 places
0**0                  True         0___0  Exponentiation
"-5e-5"               True         Raise to a negative number
"+1e1"                True         Plus is OK with exponent
"+1e1^5"              False        Fancy exponent not interpreted
"+1e1.3"              False        No decimals in exponent
"-+1"                 False        Make up your mind
"(1)"                 False        Parenthesis is bad

You think you know what numbers are? You are not so good as you think! Not big surprise.

Don't use this code on life-critical software!

Catching broad exceptions this way, killing canaries and gobbling the exception creates a tiny chance that a valid float as string will return false. The float(...) line of code can failed for any of a thousand reasons that have nothing to do with the contents of the string. But if you're writing life-critical software in a duck-typing prototype language like Python, then you've got much larger problems.

def num(s):
    try:
        return int(s)
    except ValueError:
        return float(s)

Another method which deserves to be mentioned here is ast.literal_eval:

This can be used for safely evaluating strings containing Python expressions from untrusted sources without the need to parse the values oneself.

That is, a safe 'eval'

>>> import ast
>>> ast.literal_eval("545.2222")
545.2222
>>> ast.literal_eval("31")
31

Localization and commas

You should consider the possibility of commas in the string representation of a number, for cases like float("545,545.2222") which throws an exception. Instead, use methods in locale to convert the strings to numbers and interpret commas correctly. The locale.atof method converts to a float in one step once the locale has been set for the desired number convention.

Example 1 -- United States number conventions

In the United States and the UK, commas can be used as a thousands separator. In this example with American locale, the comma is handled properly as a separator:

>>> import locale
>>> a = u'545,545.2222'
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'en_US.UTF-8')
'en_US.UTF-8'
>>> locale.atof(a)
545545.2222
>>> int(locale.atof(a))
545545
>>>

Example 2 -- European number conventions

In the majority of countries of the world, commas are used for decimal marks instead of periods. In this example with French locale, the comma is correctly handled as a decimal mark:

>>> import locale
>>> b = u'545,2222'
>>> locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'fr_FR')
'fr_FR'
>>> locale.atof(b)
545.2222

The method locale.atoi is also available, but the argument should be an integer.

float(x) if '.' in x else int(x)

If you aren't averse to third-party modules, you could check out the fastnumbers module. It provides a function called fast_real that does exactly what this question is asking for and does it faster than a pure-Python implementation:

>>> from fastnumbers import fast_real
>>> fast_real("545.2222")
545.2222
>>> type(fast_real("545.2222"))
float
>>> fast_real("31")
31
>>> type(fast_real("31"))
int

In Python, how can I parse a numeric string like "545.2222" to its corresponding float value, 542.2222? Or parse the string "31" to an integer, 31? I just want to know how to parse a float string to a float, and (separately) an int string to an int.

It's good that you ask to do these separately. If you're mixing them, you may be setting yourself up for problems later. The simple answer is:

"545.2222" to float:

>>> float("545.2222")
545.2222

"31" to an integer:

>>> int("31")
31

Other conversions, ints to and from strings and literals:

Conversions from various bases, and you should know the base in advance (10 is the default). Note you can prefix them with what Python expects for its literals (see below) or remove the prefix:

>>> int("0b11111", 2)
31
>>> int("11111", 2)
31
>>> int('0o37', 8)
31
>>> int('37', 8)
31
>>> int('0x1f', 16)
31
>>> int('1f', 16)
31

If you don't know the base in advance, but you do know they will have the correct prefix, Python can infer this for you if you pass 0 as the base:

>>> int("0b11111", 0)
31
>>> int('0o37', 0)
31
>>> int('0x1f', 0)
31

Non-Decimal (i.e. Integer) Literals from other Bases

If your motivation is to have your own code clearly represent hard-coded specific values, however, you may not need to convert from the bases - you can let Python do it for you automatically with the correct syntax.

You can use the apropos prefixes to get automatic conversion to integers with the following literals. These are valid for Python 2 and 3:

Binary, prefix 0b

>>> 0b11111
31

Octal, prefix 0o

>>> 0o37
31

Hexadecimal, prefix 0x

>>> 0x1f
31

This can be useful when describing binary flags, file permissions in code, or hex values for colors - for example, note no quotes:

>>> 0b10101 # binary flags
21
>>> 0o755 # read, write, execute perms for owner, read & ex for group & others
493
>>> 0xffffff # the color, white, max values for red, green, and blue
16777215

Making ambiguous Python 2 octals compatible with Python 3

If you see an integer that starts with a 0, in Python 2, this is (deprecated) octal syntax.

>>> 037
31

It is bad because it looks like the value should be 37. So in Python 3, it now raises a SyntaxError:

>>> 037
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    037
      ^
SyntaxError: invalid token

Convert your Python 2 octals to octals that work in both 2 and 3 with the 0o prefix:

>>> 0o37
31

Users codelogic and harley are correct, but keep in mind if you know the string is an integer (for example, 545) you can call int("545") without first casting to float.

If your strings are in a list, you could use the map function as well.

>>> x = ["545.0", "545.6", "999.2"]
>>> map(float, x)
[545.0, 545.60000000000002, 999.20000000000005]
>>>

It is only good if they're all the same type.

The question seems a little bit old. But let me suggest a function, parseStr, which makes something similar, that is, returns integer or float and if a given ASCII string cannot be converted to none of them it returns it untouched. The code of course might be adjusted to do only what you want:

   >>> import string
   >>> parseStr = lambda x: x.isalpha() and x or x.isdigit() and \
   ...                      int(x) or x.isalnum() and x or \
   ...                      len(set(string.punctuation).intersection(x)) == 1 and \
   ...                      x.count('.') == 1 and float(x) or x
   >>> parseStr('123')
   123
   >>> parseStr('123.3')
   123.3
   >>> parseStr('3HC1')
   '3HC1'
   >>> parseStr('12.e5')
   1200000.0
   >>> parseStr('12$5')
   '12$5'
   >>> parseStr('12.2.2')
   '12.2.2'

float("545.2222") and int(float("545.2222"))

The YAML parser can help you figure out what datatype your string is. Use yaml.load(), and then you can use type(result) to test for type:

>>> import yaml

>>> a = "545.2222"
>>> result = yaml.load(a)
>>> result
545.22220000000004
>>> type(result)
<type 'float'>

>>> b = "31"
>>> result = yaml.load(b)
>>> result
31
>>> type(result)
<type 'int'>

>>> c = "HI"
>>> result = yaml.load(c)
>>> result
'HI'
>>> type(result)
<type 'str'>

I use this function for that

import ast

def parse_str(s):
   try:
      return ast.literal_eval(str(s))
   except:
      return

It will convert the string to its type

value = parse_str('1')  # Returns Integer
value = parse_str('1.5')  # Returns Float

def get_int_or_float(v):
    number_as_float = float(v)
    number_as_int = int(number_as_float)
    return number_as_int if number_as_float == number_as_int else number_as_float

You could use json.loads:

>>> import json
>>> json.loads('123.456')
123.456
>>> type(_)
<class 'float'>
>>> 

As you can see it becomes a type of float.

def num(s):
    """num(s)
    num(3),num(3.7)-->3
    num('3')-->3, num('3.7')-->3.7
    num('3,700')-->ValueError
    num('3a'),num('a3'),-->ValueError
    num('3e4') --> 30000.0
    """
    try:
        return int(s)
    except ValueError:
        try:
            return float(s)
        except ValueError:
            raise ValueError('argument is not a string of number')

You need to take into account rounding to do this properly.

i.e. - int(5.1) => 5 int(5.6) => 5 -- wrong, should be 6 so we do int(5.6 + 0.5) => 6

def convert(n):
    try:
        return int(n)
    except ValueError:
        return float(n + 0.5)

There is also regex, because sometimes string must be prepared and normalized before casting to a number:

import re

def parseNumber(value, as_int=False):
    try:
        number = float(re.sub('[^.\-\d]', '', value))
        if as_int:
            return int(number + 0.5)
        else:
            return number
    except ValueError:
        return float('nan')  # or None if you wish

Usage:

parseNumber('13,345')
> 13345.0

parseNumber('- 123 000')
> -123000.0

parseNumber('99999\n')
> 99999.0

And by the way, something to verify you have a number:

import numbers
def is_number(value):
    return isinstance(value, numbers.Number)
    # Will work with int, float, long, Decimal

To typecast in Python use the constructor functions of the type, passing the string (or whatever value you are trying to cast) as a parameter.

For example:

>>>float("23.333")
   23.333

Behind the scenes, Python is calling the objects __float__ method, which should return a float representation of the parameter. This is especially powerful, as you can define your own types (using classes) with a __float__ method so that it can be casted into a float using float(myobject).

Handles hex, octal, binary, decimal, and float

This solution will handle all of the string conventions for numbers (all that I know about).

def to_number(n):
    ''' Convert any number representation to a number
    This covers: float, decimal, hex, and octal numbers.
    '''

    try:
        return int(str(n), 0)
    except:
        try:
            # Python 3 doesn't accept "010" as a valid octal.  You must use the
            # '0o' prefix
            return int('0o' + n, 0)
        except:
            return float(n)

This test case output illustrates what I'm talking about.

======================== CAPTURED OUTPUT =========================
to_number(3735928559)   = 3735928559 == 3735928559
to_number("0xFEEDFACE") = 4277009102 == 4277009102
to_number("0x0")        =          0 ==          0
to_number(100)          =        100 ==        100
to_number("42")         =         42 ==         42
to_number(8)            =          8 ==          8
to_number("0o20")       =         16 ==         16
to_number("020")        =         16 ==         16
to_number(3.14)         =       3.14 ==       3.14
to_number("2.72")       =       2.72 ==       2.72
to_number("1e3")        =     1000.0 ==       1000
to_number(0.001)        =      0.001 ==      0.001
to_number("0xA")        =         10 ==         10
to_number("012")        =         10 ==         10
to_number("0o12")       =         10 ==         10
to_number("0b01010")    =         10 ==         10
to_number("10")         =         10 ==         10
to_number("10.0")       =       10.0 ==         10
to_number("1e1")        =       10.0 ==         10

Here is the test:

class test_to_number(unittest.TestCase):

    def test_hex(self):
        # All of the following should be converted to an integer
        #
        values = [

                 #          HEX
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (0xDEADBEEF  , 3735928559), # Hex
                ("0xFEEDFACE", 4277009102), # Hex
                ("0x0"       ,          0), # Hex

                 #        Decimals
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (100         ,        100), # Decimal
                ("42"        ,         42), # Decimal
            ]



        values += [
                 #        Octals
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (0o10        ,          8), # Octal
                ("0o20"      ,         16), # Octal
                ("020"       ,         16), # Octal
            ]


        values += [
                 #        Floats
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                (3.14        ,       3.14), # Float
                ("2.72"      ,       2.72), # Float
                ("1e3"       ,       1000), # Float
                (1e-3        ,      0.001), # Float
            ]

        values += [
                 #        All ints
                 # ----------------------
                 # Input     |   Expected
                 # ----------------------
                ("0xA"       ,         10),
                ("012"       ,         10),
                ("0o12"      ,         10),
                ("0b01010"   ,         10),
                ("10"        ,         10),
                ("10.0"      ,         10),
                ("1e1"       ,         10),
            ]

        for _input, expected in values:
            value = to_number(_input)

            if isinstance(_input, str):
                cmd = 'to_number("{}")'.format(_input)
            else:
                cmd = 'to_number({})'.format(_input)

            print("{:23} = {:10} == {:10}".format(cmd, value, expected))
            self.assertEqual(value, expected)

Pass your string to this function:

def string_to_number(str):
  if("." in str):
    try:
      res = float(str)
    except:
      res = str
  elif(str.isdigit()):
    res = int(str)
  else:
    res = str
  return(res)

It will return int, float or string depending on what was passed.

String that is an int

print(type(string_to_number("124")))
<class 'int'>

String that is a float

print(type(string_to_number("12.4")))
<class 'float'>

String that is a string

print(type(string_to_number("hello")))
<class 'str'>

String that looks like a float

print(type(string_to_number("hel.lo")))
<class 'str'>

a = int(float(a)) if int(float(a)) == float(a) else float(a)

This is a corrected version of Totoro's answer.

This will try to parse a string and return either int or float depending on what the string represents. It might rise parsing exceptions or have some unexpected behaviour.

  def get_int_or_float(v):
        number_as_float = float(v)
        number_as_int = int(number_as_float)
        return number_as_int if number_as_float == number_as_int else
        number_as_float

If you are dealing with mixed integers and floats and want a consistent way to deal with your mixed data, here is my solution with the proper docstring:

def parse_num(candidate):
    """Parse string to number if possible
    It work equally well with negative and positive numbers, integers and floats.

    Args:
        candidate (str): string to convert

    Returns:
        float | int | None: float or int if possible otherwise None
    """
    try:
        float_value = float(candidate)
    except ValueError:
        return None

    # Optional part if you prefer int to float when decimal part is 0
    if float_value.is_integer():
        return int(float_value)
    # end of the optional part

    return float_value

# Test
candidates = ['34.77', '-13', 'jh', '8990', '76_3234_54']
res_list = list(map(parse_num, candidates))
print('Before:')
print(candidates)
print('After:')
print(res_list)

Output:

Before:
['34.77', '-13', 'jh', '8990', '76_3234_54']

After:
[34.77, -13, None, 8990, 76323454]

Use:

def num(s):
    try:
        for each in s:
            yield int(each)
    except ValueError:
        yield float(each)
a = num(["123.55","345","44"])
print a.next()
print a.next()

This is the most Pythonic way I could come up with.

If you don't want to use third party modules the following might be the most robust solution:

def string_to_int_or_float(s):
    try:
        f = float(s) # replace s with str(s) if you are not sure that s is a string
    except ValueError:
        print("Provided string '" + s + "' is not interpretable as a literal number.")
        raise
    try:
        i = int(str(f).rstrip('0').rstrip('.'))
    except:
        return f
    return i

It might not be the fastest, but it handles correctly literal numbers where many other solutions fail, such as:

>>> string_to_int_or_float('789.')
789
>>> string_to_int_or_float('789.0')
789
>>> string_to_int_or_float('12.3e2')
1230
>>> string_to_int_or_float('12.3e-2')
0.123
>>> string_to_int_or_float('4560e-1')
456
>>> string_to_int_or_float('4560e-2')
45.6

This is a function which will convert any object (not just str) to int or float, based on if the actual string supplied looks like int or float. Further if it's an object which has both __float and __int__ methods, it defaults to using __float__

def conv_to_num(x, num_type='asis'):
    '''Converts an object to a number if possible.
    num_type: int, float, 'asis'
    Defaults to floating point in case of ambiguity.
    '''
    import numbers

    is_num, is_str, is_other = [False]*3

    if isinstance(x, numbers.Number):
        is_num = True
    elif isinstance(x, str):
        is_str = True

    is_other = not any([is_num, is_str])

    if is_num:
        res = x
    elif is_str:
        is_float, is_int, is_char = [False]*3
        try:
            res = float(x)
            if '.' in x:
                is_float = True
            else:
                is_int = True
        except ValueError:
            res = x
            is_char = True

    else:
        if num_type == 'asis':
            funcs = [int, float]
        else:
            funcs = [num_type]

        for func in funcs:
            try:
                res = func(x)
                break
            except TypeError:
                continue
        else:
            res = x

By using int and float methods we can convert a string to integer and floats.

s="45.8"
print(float(s))

y='67'
print(int(y))

For numbers and characters together:

string_for_int = "498 results should get"
string_for_float = "498.45645765 results should get"

First import re:

 import re

 # For getting the integer part:
 print(int(re.search(r'\d+', string_for_int).group())) #498

 # For getting the float part:
 print(float(re.search(r'\d+\.\d+', string_for_float).group())) #498.45645765

For easy model:

value1 = "10"
value2 = "10.2"
print(int(value1)) # 10
print(float(value2)) # 10.2

You can simply do this by

s = '542.22'

f = float(s) # This converts string data to float data with a decimal point
print(f) 

i = int(f) # This converts string data to integer data by just taking the whole number part of it
print(i) 

For more information on parsing of data types check on python documentation!