What Is the Difference Between '/' and '//' When Used for Division?

Python 2.x Clarification:

To clarify for the Python 2.x line, / is neither floor division nor true division.

/ is floor division when both args are int, but is true division when either of the args are float.

// implements "floor division", regardless of your type. So 1.0/2.0 will give 0.5, but both 1/2, 1//2 and 1.0//2.0 will give 0.

See PEP 238: Changing the Division Operator for details.

/ → Floating point division

// → Floor division

Let’s see some examples in both Python 2.7 and in Python 3.5.

Python 2.7.10 vs. Python 3.5

print (2/3)  ----> 0                   Python 2.7
print (2/3)  ----> 0.6666666666666666  Python 3.5

Python 2.7.10 vs. Python 3.5

print (4/2)  ----> 2         Python 2.7
print (4/2)  ----> 2.0       Python 3.5

Now if you want to have (in Python 2.7) the same output as in Python 3.5, you can do the following:

Python 2.7.10

from __future__ import division
print (2/3)  ----> 0.6666666666666666   # Python 2.7
print (4/2)  ----> 2.0                  # Python 2.7

Whereas there isn't any difference between floor division in both Python 2.7 and in Python 3.5.

138.93//3 ---> 46.0        # Python 2.7
138.93//3 ---> 46.0        # Python 3.5
4//3      ---> 1           # Python 2.7
4//3      ---> 1           # Python 3.5

As everyone has already answered, // is floor division.

Why this is important is that // is unambiguously floor division, in all Python versions from 2.2, including Python 3.x versions.

The behavior of / can change depending on:

• Active __future__ import or not (module-local)
• Python command line option, either -Q old or -Q new

>>> print 5.0 / 2
2.5

>>> print 5.0 // 2
2.0

Python 2.7 and other upcoming versions of Python:

• Division (/)

Divides left hand operand by right hand operand

Example: 4 / 2 = 2

• Floor division (//)

The division of operands where the result is the quotient in which the digits after the decimal point are removed. But if one of the operands is negative, the result is floored, i.e., rounded away from zero (towards negative infinity):

Examples: 9//2 = 4 and 9.0//2.0 = 4.0, -11//3 = -4, -11.0//3 = -4.0

Both / division and // floor division operator are operating in similar fashion.

The double slash, //, is floor division:

>>> 7//3
2

// is floor division. It will always give you the integer floor of the result. The other is 'regular' division.

The previous answers are good. I want to add another point. Up to some values both of them result in the same quotient. After that floor division operator (//) works fine but not division (/) operator:

>>> int(755349677599789174 / 2) # Wrong answer
377674838799894592

>>> 755349677599789174 // 2     # Correct answer
377674838799894587

The answer of the equation is rounded to the next smaller integer or float with .0 as decimal point.

>>>print 5//2
2
>>> print 5.0//2
2.0
>>>print 5//2.0
2.0
>>>print 5.0//2.0
2.0

Summary

• x//y : EXACT integer division
• int(x/y) OR math.floor(x/y): INEXACT integer division (but almost correct)
• x/y: floating point division (that has the loss of significance)