How can I convert a user's string input such as 'int' or 'float' to types str and float?

Question

I'd like know if there is a quick way to accept data types as a user input directly so I can use it directly to cast type on other variables?
I am not looking for conditionals or for loops to check for all possible options. Thanks for the help in advance.
ex:

data_type = input('Enter a data type: str , bool, int or float: ')

user enters: str
I use datatype variable to change an integer to string type: datatype(234)

Joshua Varghese · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-15 05:33:36Z

1

The usage of eval is not recommended, but that solves your question:

data_type = eval(input('Enter a data type: str , bool, int or float: '))

But we also have a safer method than eval. That is using the ast library:

import ast
data_type = ast.literal_eval(input('Enter a data type: str , bool, int or float: '))

answered Apr 15, 2020 at 5:33

Joshua Varghese

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1 Comment

DataWise Over a year ago

"eval" worked like a charm. Also thanks for the fair warning about the use of eval. I did some research and will be cautious. "ast.literal_eval" never works for me for some reason throwing ValueError for even the simplest expressions.

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