Python Convert Float to String

In this tutorial, we will learn how to use Python’s provided features and methods to convert strings into floats.

Whether you are just starting in programming or a seasoned developer, typecasting is a common task, and you will need a way to convert a float into a string representation.

Requirements

To follow along with this post, all you need is:

• Python 3 interpreter.
• A code editor or a terminal access.

This tutorial will demonstrate the functionality using Python 3.11, but they should work for all Python 3 versions.

Method 1 - Using str Function

Using the str function is the most simplistic and Pythonic way of converting a float to a string. An example is as shown:

>>> f = 3.14159
>>> s = str(f)
>>> print(s)
3.14159
>>> print(type(s))
<class 'str'>

As you can see, the code above quickly converts the float to a string by calling the str function.

We can use the string formatting functionality in Python 3 to set the decimal after the comma. An example is as shown below:

>>> f = 3.14159
>>> s = f'{f:.2f}'
>>> print(s)
3.14

This tells the Python interpreter to set two decimal values after the comma.

Method 2 - Using the Format Method.

We can also use the format() method to convert a given float value to its string representation, as shown in the example below:

>>> f = 3.14159
>>> s = '{}'.format(f)
>>> print(s)
3.14159
>>> print(type(s))
<class 'str'>

As you can see, this should return the string representation of the float value.

We can also specify the precision after the comma when converting a float to a string, as shown in the example below:

>>> f = 3.14159
>>> s = '{:.2f}'.format(f)
>>> print(s)
3.14

In this case, we tell Python only to include two values after the comma using the :.2f format.

End.

In this post, we covered the methods to convert a float into a string representation using Python’s built-in tools and methods.