What is a Variable?

A variable is a “container” or “label used to store data in memory. It gives your data a name so you can reuse and update it in your program.

Baisc Data Types

Data Type Description Example
Numbers Whole numbers (integers) or decimals (floats). 
x = 5
pi = 3.14
Strings Text enclosed in quotes. 
greeting = "Hello, world!"
farewell = "Goodbye!"
Booleans True or False values. 
is_active = True
is_odd = False

You can create variables by assigning values with the = sign. This is called Initialization or Initializing a variable. To display to the terminal in Python, you use the print() function. You can print Strings and Variables together by separating them by a comma as shown below.

Creating and Printing Variables

name = "Alice"
age = 25
print("My name is", name)
print("I am", age, "years old")

Example:

Reassigning Variables

Variables can be updated by assigning them a new value. This is super useful as you can update variables to reflect changes in the data, such as a new favorite food. Additionally, Python is a Dynamically Typed Language, meaning variables are determined at runtime. This allows you to reassign variables to different data types.

Additional Information:
Runtime - Phase when the program is running and being executed by the computer.

favorite_food = "Pizza"
favorite_food = "Sushi"
print("Now I love", favorite_food)

my_variable = 10  # Initially an integer
my_variable = "Now it's a string"  # Reassigned as a string
print(my_variable)

Example:

Download the starter file here.

Open the file in VS Code by hitting File —> Open and then opening the starter file you just downloaded.

Try creating a variable for:

  1. Your favorite color.

  2. Your current mood.

  3. A number of your choice.

Print all three variables in one sentence!

Mini Challenge