The type function

The type function returns the type of variable that was passed to it. As in the following example, for the string variable, it will return str; for the number variable, int or float, and so on and so forth: 

>>> type(‘Hello world')
str

Here, the function returns the type of the Hello world value, which is a string. This function allows us to differentiate between values, even if this is not very clear. Take a look at the following example:

>>> type(101)
int

>> type('101')
str

Here, type identifies the fact that similar looking values are an integer and a string. Often, however, we don't need to know the specific type of the value, but rather whether the value is of a certain type (and adjust our methods accordingly). For this, there is isinstance.