Choosing between true division and floor division
Python offers us two kinds of division operators. What are they, and how do we know which one to use? We'll also look at the Python division rules and how they apply to integer values.
Getting ready
There are several general cases for division:
- A div-mod pair: We want both parts – the quotient and the remainder. The name refers to the division and modulo operations combined together. We can summarize the quotient and remainder as
. We often use this when converting values from one base into another. When we convert seconds into hours, minutes, and seconds, we'll be doing a div-mod kind of division. We don't want the exact number of hours; we want a truncated number of hours, and the remainder will be converted into minutes and seconds.
- The true value: This is a typical floating-point value; it will be a good approximation to the quotient. For example, if we're computing...
