How do I get a decimal value when using the division operator in Python?

Question

For example, the standard division symbol \'/\' rounds to zero:

>>> 4 / 100
0

However, I want it to return 0.04. What do I use?

Answer 1

Other answers suggest how to get a floating-point value. While this wlil be close to what you want, it won't be exact:

>>> 0.4/100.
0.0040000000000000001

If you actually want a decimal value, do this:

>>> import decimal
>>> decimal.Decimal('4') / decimal.Decimal('100')
Decimal("0.04")

That will give you an object that properly knows that 4 / 100 in base 10 is "0.04". Floating-point numbers are actually in base 2, i.e. binary, not decimal.