Difference between / vs. // operator in Python

In this article, we will see the difference between the / vs // operator in Python

Python Division Operator

The division operator ‘/ ‘ performs standard division, which can result in a floating-point number. However, if both the dividend and divisor are integers, Python will perform integer division only if the result is an integer. Otherwise, it will produce a floating-point result.

Example

In the above example, we are performing division between two integers, 10 and 3. The result of dividing 10 by 3 is 3.3333333333333335

Python3

# Division operator

result = 10 / 3

print(result)

Output:

3.3333333333333335

Floor Division in Python

The floor division operator // performs division and returns the largest integer that is less than or equal to the division result. It truncates (rounds down) the fractional part of the result, ensuring that the result is always an integer.

Example

In result1 we are performing floor division between two integers, 10 and 3. The result of dividing 10 by 3 is 3.333…., but floor division returns the largest integer less than or equal to the result. Therefore, the result is 3.

Python3

result1 = 10 // 3  # Result: 3

print("Floor division of two integers :", result1)

Output

Floor division of two integers : 3

Difference between ‘/’ and ‘//’ in Python Division

The below table shows the differences with proper examples

Feature	Division Operator (/)	Floor Divsion Operator (//)
Return Type	Floating-point. Returns in integer only if the result is an integer	Integer
Fractional Part	Returns the fractional part	Truncates the fractional part
Examples	10 / 3 = 3.333333… 10 / 5 = 2.0 5 / 2 = 2.5 -17 / 5 = -3.4 -17 / -5 = 3.4	10 // 3 = 3 10 // 5 = 2 5 // 2 = 2 -17 // 5 = -4 -17 // -5 = 3