How Can I Efficiently Verify if a Python String Represents a Number?

Verifying Numeric Strings in Python

When working with Python strings, it's common to need to verify if they represent numeric values. While the common approach using float(s) and catching ValueError is functional, it can be cumbersome. Let's explore alternative techniques.

One efficient method for checking unsigned integers is using isdigit(). This function returns True if the string contains only digits, and False otherwise. For example:

a = "03523"
a.isdigit() # True
b = "963spam"
b.isdigit() # False

isdigit() is specifically designed for integers, and it's more efficient than using float().

For Python 2 users, isnumeric() serves a similar purpose for Unicode strings.

Remember, even if a string represents a number in user input, it remains a string in Python. To convert it to an integer or float, use specific parsing methods.

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