Convert a number enclosed in parentheses (string) to a negative integer (or float) using Python?

Question

In Python, what is the simplest way to convert a number enclosed in parentheses (string) to a negative integer (or float)?

For example, \'(4,301)\' to -4301, as commonly

Answer 1

For Python 3.6, and also handles '-' as 0, and strips excess empty spaces:

def clean_num(num_string):
    bad_chars = '(),-'
    translator = str.maketrans('', '', bad_chars)
    clean_digits = num_string.translate(translator).strip()

    if clean_digits == '':
        return 0
    elif '(' in num_string:
        return -float(clean_digits)
    else:
        return float(clean_digits)