Literals in Python

Generally, literals are a notation for representing a fixed value in source code. They can also be defined as raw values or data given in variables or constants. Python has different types of literal such as:

1. String literals
2. Numeric literals
3. Boolean literals
4. Literal Collections
5. Special literals

What is String literals

A string literal can be created by writing a text(a group of Characters ) surrounded by a single(”), double(“”), or triple quotes.  By using triple quotes we can write multi-line strings or display them in the desired way. 

Example: Here geekforgeeks is a string literal that is assigned to a variable(s). 

Python3

# string literals

# in single quote
s = 'geekforgeeks'

# in double quotes
t = "geekforgeeks"

# multi-line String
m = '''geek
           for
               geeks'''

print(s)
print(t)
print(m)

Output

geekforgeeks
geekforgeeks
geek 
           for 
               geeks

What is Character literal

It is also a type of string literal where a single character is surrounded by single or double quotes.

Example:

Python3

# character literal in single quote
v = 'n'

# character literal in double quotes
w = "a"

print(v)
print(w)

Output

n
a

What is Numeric literal

They are immutable and there are three types of numeric literal: 

1. Integer 
2. Float python
3. Complex.

Integer:

Both positive and negative numbers including 0. There should not be any fractional part.

Example:

We assigned integer literals (0b10100, 50, 0o320, 0x12b) into different variables. Here, ‘a‘ is a binary literal, ‘b’ is a decimal literal, ‘c‘ is an octal literal, and ‘d‘ is a hexadecimal literal. But on using the print function to display a value or to get the output they were converted into decimal.

Python3

# integer literal

# Binary Literals
a = 0b10100

# Decimal Literal
b = 50

# Octal Literal
c = 0o320

# Hexadecimal Literal
d = 0x12b

print(a, b, c, d)

Output

20 50 208 299

Float

These are real numbers having both integer and fractional parts.

Example:

24.8 and 45.0 are floating-point literals because both 24.8 and 45.0 are floating-point numbers. 

Python3

# Float Literal
e = 24.8
f = 45.0

print(e, f)

Output

24.8 45.0

Complex

The numerals will be in the form of a + bj, where ‘a‘ is the real part and ‘b‘ is the complex part.

Example:

Python3

z = 7 + 5j

# real part is 0 here.
k = 7j

print(z, k)

Output

(7+5j) 7j

What is Boolean literal

There are only two Boolean literals in Python. They are true and false. In Python, True represents the value as 1 and False represents the value as 0. 

Example 1:

In this example ‘a‘ is True and ‘b‘ is False because 1 is equal to True.

Python3

a = (1 == True)
b = (1 == False)
c = True + 3
d = False + 7

print("a is", a)
print("b is", b)
print("c:", c)
print("d:", d)

Output

a is True
b is False
c: 4
d: 7

Example 2:

Another example to show boolean literal.

Python3

x = (1 == True)
y = (2 == False)
z = (3 == True)
r = (1 == True)
a = True + 10
b = False + 10

print("x is", x)
print("y is", y)
print("z is", r)
print("a:", a)
print("b:", b)

Output

x is True
y is False
z is True
a: 11
b: 10

What are literal collections

Python provides four different types of literal collections:

1. List literals
2. Tuple literals
3. Dict literals
4. Set literals

What is List literal

The list contains items of different data types. The values stored in List are separated by a comma (,) and enclosed within square brackets([]). We can store different types of data in a List. Lists are mutable.

Example: 

Python3

# List literals
number = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
name = ['Amit', 'kabir', 'bhaskar', 2]
print(number)
print(name)

Output

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
['Amit', 'kabir', 'bhaskar', 2]

What is Tuple literal

A tuple is a collection of different data-type.  It is enclosed by the parentheses ‘()‘ and each element is separated by the comma(,). It is immutable.

Example: 

Python3

# Tuple literals
even_number = (2, 4, 6, 8)
odd_number = (1, 3, 5, 7)

print(even_number)
print(odd_number)

Output

(2, 4, 6, 8)
(1, 3, 5, 7)

What is Dictionary literal

Dictionary stores the data in the key-value pair. It is enclosed by curly braces ‘{}‘ and each pair is separated by the commas(,).  We can store different types of data in a dictionary. Dictionaries are mutable.

Example: 

Python3

# Dict literals
alphabets = {'a': 'apple', 'b': 'ball', 'c': 'cat'}
information = {'name': 'amit', 'age': 20, 'ID': 20}

print(alphabets)
print(information)

Output:

{'a': 'apple', 'b': 'ball', 'c': 'cat'}
{'name': 'amit', 'age': 20, 'ID': 20}

What is Set literal

Set is the collection of the unordered data set. It is enclosed by the {} and each element is separated by the comma(,).

Example: We can create a set of vowels and fruits. 

Python3

# Set literals
vowels = {'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'}
fruits = {"apple", "banana", "cherry"}

print(vowels)
print(fruits)

Output

{'o', 'e', 'a', 'u', 'i'}
{'apple', 'banana', 'cherry'}

What is Special literal

Python contains one special literal (None). ‘None’ is used to define a null variable. If ‘None’ is compared with anything else other than a ‘None’, it will return false.

Example:

Python3

# Special literals
water_remain = None
print(water_remain)

Output

None