Names and Everyday Types

Scenario: A receipt needs a product name, quantity, price, and paid/unpaid flag.

New words, in plain English

• Variable - a name pointing to a value
• int - a whole number
• float - a decimal number
• str - text
• bool - True or False

Assignment uses =. Python decides the value's type at runtime. type(value) reveals it; int(), float(), str(), and bool() convert when the conversion makes sense.

Analogy: A Python program is like a clear set of instructions for a careful helper: names label things, indentation groups steps, and errors explain where the helper became confused.

A small, real example

item = "cable"
quantity = 3
price = 6.50
paid = False
print(type(price))

Tip: Choose descriptive snake_case names such as retry_count.

Goal: Practice this idea in the py-variables-types challenge at /labs/python. Fix the broken program, run it yourself, then use check to prove the real end state.