CODEWITHSUNDEEP
python-2.7
LaffyTaffyKidd
LaffyTaffyKidd

Reputation: 47

Python: Summing up a float

If I have a list of strings stored in a variable called b_split[1]. Basically the 1st position in b_split contains these latitude values as a string.

['10.2']
['10.4']
['10.5']

I want to be able to sum them up.. 

for i in text_file:
    latitude = float(b_split[1])
print sum(latitude)

It gives me an error that the 'float' object is not iterable

Upvotes: 2

Views: 11349

Answers (2)

RocketDonkey
RocketDonkey

Reputation: 37279

If you don't need the resulting list and simply want to sum the items, you could try passing the items you care about directly to the sum function:

In [1]: my_list = ['10.2', '10.4', '10.5']

In [2]: sum(float(item) for item in my_list)
Out[2]: 31.1

This creates a generator of the float of each item in your list, and sums each item. As alluded to by @avasal, the reason you are getting your error is because you are actually reassigning latitude on each iteration, and your final result is a float (and not a list/iterable):

In [3]: for item in my_list:
   ...:     my_var = float(item)
   ...:     

In [4]: print my_var
10.5

Therefore when you try to sum it, you get the error you see above because sum sums the elements of an iterable. Since you can't iterate over a float, you get the not iterable error.

Upvotes: 0

avasal
avasal

Reputation: 14864

latitude should be a list

and it should be 

latitude.append(float(b_split[1]))

and finally 

print sum(latitude)

Upvotes: 2

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