Time for action – assigning values to variables

Assigning values to variables in Python works in a similar way to most programming languages.

1. For instance, assign the value of 2 to a variable named var as follows:

   >>> var = 2
   >>> var
   2
   

2. We defined the variable and assigned it a value. In this Python code, the type of the variable is not fixed. We can make the variable in to a list, which is a built-in Python type corresponding to an ordered sequence of values. Assign a list to var as follows:

   >>> var = [2, 'spam', 'eggs']
   >>> var
   [2, 'spam', 'eggs']
   

   We can assign a new value to a list item using its index number (counting starts from 0). Assign a new value to the first list element:

   >>> var
   ['ham', 'spam', 'eggs']
   

3. We can also swap values easily. Define two variables and swap their values:

   >>> a = 1
   >>> b = 2
   >>> a, b = b, a
   >>> a
   2
   >>> b
   1
   

What just happened?

We assigned values to variables and Python list items. This section is by no means exhaustive; therefore, if you are struggling, please read Appendix B, Additional Online Resources, to find recommended Python tutorials.