[FIXED] What is the difference between '/' and '//' when used for division?

Issue

Is there a benefit to using one over the other? In Python 2, they both seem to return the same results:

>>> 6/3
2
>>> 6//3
2

Solution

In Python 3.x, 5 / 2 will return 2.5 and 5 // 2 will return 2. The former is floating point division, and the latter is floor division, sometimes also called integer division.

In Python 2.2 or later in the 2.x line, there is no difference for integers unless you perform a from __future__ import division, which causes Python 2.x to adopt the 3.x behavior.

Regardless of the future import, 5.0 // 2 will return 2.0 since that's the floor division result of the operation.

You can find a detailed description at PEP 238: Changing the Division Operator.

Answered By - Eli Courtwright

Answer Checked By - Katrina (PHPFixing Volunteer)