1. Implicit Type Casting

Implicit casting occurs automatically when Python converts a smaller data type to a larger one to avoid data loss. For example, when adding an integer and a float, Python implicitly converts the integer to a float.

            
a = 10      # int
b = 10.5    # float
c = a + b   # int is implicitly cast to float
print(c)    # Output: 20.5
            
        

Explanation: The integer a is implicitly cast to a float before the addition.

2. Explicit Type Casting

Explicit casting is done manually using Python’s built-in functions. The most commonly used functions are int(), float(), and str().

a) int() Function

The int() function converts a float, string, or boolean to an integer. If the string contains a valid integer representation, it will be converted; otherwise, a ValueError is raised.

            
a = int(10.5)       # Converts float to int
b = int("100")      # Converts string to int
c = int(True)       # Converts boolean to int
print(a, b, c)      # Output: 10 100 1
            
        

b) float() Function

The float() function converts an integer, string, or boolean to a float. If the string contains a valid floating-point representation, it will be converted; otherwise, a ValueError is raised.

            
a = float(10)       # Converts int to float
b = float("10.5")   # Converts string to float
c = float(True)     # Converts boolean to float
print(a, b, c)      # Output: 10.0 10.5 1.0
            
        

c) str() Function

The str() function converts an integer, float, or boolean to a string. It can also convert other objects like lists and tuples to their string representations.

            
a = str(10)         # Converts int to string
b = str(10.5)       # Converts float to string
c = str(True)       # Converts boolean to string
print(a, b, c)      # Output: "10" "10.5" "True"
            
        

💡 Pro Tip: Be Careful with Explicit Casting

When using explicit casting, ensure that the data being converted is compatible with the target type. For example, converting a string like "Hello" to an integer will raise a ValueError.