type(myintmyfloat type(myfloatyou may be wondering why there are two different data types for numbers one reason has to do with program style values that represent counts can' be fractionalwe can' have quartersfor example using an int value tells the reader of program that the value can' be fraction another reason has to do with the efficiency of various operations the underlying algorithms that perform computer arithmetic are simplerand therefore fasterfor ints than the more general algorithms required for float values you should be warned that the float type only stores approximations to real numbers there is limit to the precisionor accuracyof the stored values since float values are not exactwhile ints always areyour general rule of thumb should beif you don' need fractional valuesuse an int operator *abs(/operation addition subtraction multiplication float division exponentiation absolute value integer division remainder table python built-in numeric operations value' data type determines what operations can be used on it as we have seenpython supports the usual mathematical operations on numbers table summarizes these operations actuallythis table is somewhat misleading since the two numeric data types have their own operations for examplei have listed single addition operationbut keep in mind that when addition is performed on floatsthe computer hardware performs floating point additionwhereas with ints the computer performs an integer addition python chooses the appropriate underlying operation (int or floatbased on the operands consider the following interaction with python