Python: Literals

Literals are the fixed values assigned to variables in Python. It is the data that doesn’t change during the program execution.

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Example-

num = 10
str = 'Hello'
isBool = True

When you assign values like an integer 10, a string ‘Hello’ or a boolean ‘True’ to a variable, these constant values don’t change during program execution and are called literals.

Where are literals used?

1. Assigning Values to Variables

name = 'Sheldon Cooper' #String Literal 
age = 29 #Integer Literal
price = 2.9 #Float Literal
valid = True #Bool Literal

2. Function Parameters

print('Hello world')
type(10)

# 'Hello world' and 10 are Literal, directly passed in the function

3. Default Values in Function

def sayHi(name = 'Guest'):
    print('Hello', name)

# 'Guest' is a literal, if no argument is given then it will be used. 

4. Conditional Statements

if True:
    print('Bazinga!!!')

# True is a literal

5. Loops

for i in range(5):
    print(i)

# Integer 5 is a literal

Literals vs Non-Literals

✅ a = 10 # Integer 10 is directly assigned to 'a' 
❌ b = a + 5 # This is an expression, b is dependent on variable 'a'.
❌ c = input() # Value comes from the user is not constant.
❌ d = len('Howard') # Value is computed dynamically
                     #as len function counts the length of argument one by one.

Types of Literals

Numeric

• Integer Literals
• Floating-Point Literals
• Complex Number Literals

a = 10 # Decimal (Base 10)
b = 0b1010 # Binary (Base 2)
c = 0o12 # Octal (Base 8)
d = 0xA  # Hexadecimal (Base 16)

String Literals

• Single Quote ( ‘ )
• Double Quotes ( “ )
• Triple Quotes ( ‘‘‘ )

str1 = 'Bazinga!!!'
str2 = "Bazinga!!!"
str3 = '''Bazinga
       !!!'''
str4 = "Sheldon says \n Bazinga!!!" # Escape Character

Boolean

• True
• False

isValid = True
notValid = False

None

It represents an absence of value. It is used to indicate that the variable has no value assigned.

x = None

Collection Literals

Python has several built-in data types for collections

• List
• Tuple
• Directory
• Set

# List
l1 = []
l2 = [1,2,3]

# Tuple
t1 = ()
t2 = (10, 20)

# Directory
d1 = {}
d2 = {"name": "Sheldon"}

# Set
s1 = set()
s2 = {1,2,3,4,5}