pythonpython-2.7mathsyntaxoperators

How do I get a decimal value when using the division operator in Python?

For example, the standard division symbol '/' rounds to zero:

>>> 4 / 100
0

However, I want it to return 0.04. What do I use?

Solution

  • There are three options:

    >>> 4 / float(100)
0.04
>>> 4 / 100.0
0.04

    which is the same behavior as the C, C++, Java etc, or 

    >>> from __future__ import division
>>> 4 / 100
0.04

    You can also activate this behavior by passing the argument -Qnew to the Python interpreter:

    $ python -Qnew
>>> 4 / 100
0.04

    The second option will be the default in Python 3.0. If you want to have the old integer division, you have to use the // operator.

    Edit: added section about -Qnew, thanks to ΤΖΩΤΖΙΟΥ!