Variables -- changing number variables

In the previous lesson, we covered how to define a variable and use it throughout the program. Now we will show you that you can update variables and how to do it.

To begin this lesson, paste the following 2 lines of code into the Python editor:

my_number = 24
my_number = 25
print(my_number)

What do you think will get printed here?

While we initially set my_number to be 24, we updated it before we printed it to be 25.

What if we wanted to add 3 to an existing variable, would the following program do this?

count = 0
count + 3
print(count)

What do you think will get printed here?

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While you might expected 3 to get printed here, we never actually updated the value of count

This is the way you would have to update the count:

count = 0
count = count + 3
print(count)

The crucial line that updates the count in the previous program is: count = count + 3 where we set the count equal to the previous value of count plus 3

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Exercises

1. set a variable equal to 33 initially and update it to be 22. print the results
2. set a variable equal to your age and then update the variable to be 2 lower than your age. print the results

Submit answers here: https://forms.gle/3xiZGJq2q4EJvmax8

Recap

1. variables can be updated with new values throughout the program
2. to update variables based on the current value of the variable, x = x + <number>