What’s the shortest and cleanest way to convert a string to an integer in Python?

General Discussions
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1

In Python, I typically convert a string to an integer using my_input = int(my_input), but it feels a bit repetitive. Is there a more concise or idiomatic way to handle string to int conversion in Python without sacrificing readability?

2

Been writing Python for over a decade now, and honestly, the cleanest way to handle a python string to int conversion is just int(my_input). It’s simple, explicit, and exactly what Python stands for, readability. I’ve yet to see a case where this isn’t the best approach in terms of clarity and correctness.

3

Same here, after experimenting quite a bit, I still come back to int(). If you’re in a performance-sensitive loop and doing a python string to int conversion repeatedly, I sometimes alias it for brevity:

to_int = int  
my_int = to_int("123")

It’s not game-changing, but it can make your code slightly neater without sacrificing readability.

4

Yeah, and to build on that, if your python string to int conversion needs extra logic, like error handling or setting defaults, wrapping it in a helper function can really pay off. Something like:

def to_int_safe(value, default=0):  
    try:  
        return int(value)  
    except (ValueError, TypeError):  
        return default

Still clean, and it makes your code more resilient if you’re handling external or unpredictable input.