The symbol ‘//’ in Python is called the floor division operator. Even though you might be familiar with the common division operator ‘/’, the floor division is a little different. It is employed to perform division that rounds down the result to the nearest whole number. To understand the concept of floor division, let’s dig a little deeper.
Understanding Floor Division
Floor division, also known as integer division, is one of Python’s arithmetic operators. The symbol ‘//’ represents it. When a division operation is performed using this operator, the decimal part (or fractional part) of the division is discarded, and the whole number part (or integer part) is retained. In other words, the result is rounded down to the nearest integer.
For instance, if you are performing a division operation like 7//2, the answer would be 3.5 in normal division, but with floor division, the result we get is 3, as it discards the decimal part.
The Difference Between ‘/’ and ‘//’ in Python
In Python, both the ‘/’ operator and the ‘//’ operator are used for division, but they work differently.
The single-slash operator ‘/’ performs floating-point/division. For example, 7/2 would give you 3.5. This operator always returns a float value, even when the dividend is perfectly divisible by the divisor.
On the other hand, the double-slash operator ‘//’ performs floor division. It provides the largest possible integer from the division result. Hence, 7 // 2 would give you 3.
Where is the ‘//’ Operator Used?
The floor division operator is useful in various scenarios especially where we need results in integers. For example, in mathematical problems that require calculations in whole numbers, like finding the number of objects that can be evenly distributed among a group.
Another common use case is in array indexing, where the indices always need to be whole numbers. Attempting to use a floating-point number as an index would result in an error, so using floor division ensures that the result will be a valid index.
In summary, the ‘//’ operator in python is a type of division operator that performs ‘floor division’. It is used when you want the division to be rounded down to the nearest whole number. It discards the fractional part and provides the largest possible integer from the division result. It is particularly useful in scenarios where a whole number is required.