Check the type of a variable in Python

Every value in Python has a type. type() tells you what it is, and isinstance() checks whether a value is of a particular type.

The program

x = 3.14

print(type(x))
print(isinstance(x, float))
print(isinstance(x, int))

<class 'float'>
True
False

How it works

• type(x) returns the type of the value. 3.14 has a decimal point, so it is a float.
• isinstance(x, float) answers yes or no (True or False): is x a float?

The common types

print(type(42))
print(type("hello"))
print(type([1, 2, 3]))
print(type(True))

<class 'int'>
<class 'str'>
<class 'list'>
<class 'bool'>

In real code, prefer isinstance() when you need to make a decision. It also accepts several types at once: isinstance(x, (int, float)) is True for any number.