Convert None to Empty string or an Integer in Python

# Table of Contents

1. Convert None to an Empty string in Python
2. Convert None to an Integer (e.g. 0) in Python

# Convert None to an Empty string in Python

Use the boolean OR operator to convert None to an empty string in Python, e.g. result = None or "".

The boolean OR operator returns the value to the left if it's truthy, otherwise, the value to the right is returned. Since None is a falsy value, the operation will return "".

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name = None

result = name or ""

print(repr(result))  # 👉️ ""

If you need to convert the value to a string if it isn't one already, use the following code sample instead.

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value = None

my_str = str(value or '')

print(repr(my_str)) # 👉️ ""

We used the boolean or operator to return an empty string if the value to the left is falsy.

All values that are not truthy are considered falsy. The falsy values in Python are:

• constants defined to be falsy: None and False.
• 0 (zero) of any numeric type
• empty sequences and collections: "" (empty string), () (empty tuple), [] (empty list), {} (empty dictionary), set() (empty set), range(0) (empty range).

Since None is a falsy value, the expression None or y is always going to return y.

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name = None

result = name or ""

print(result)  # 👉️ ""

# Convert None to an Empty string using an if statement

Alternatively, you can use an if statement to check if the variable stores None and reassign it to an empty string.

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name = None

if name is None:
    name = ""

print(repr(name))  # 👉️ ""

Checking for None is much more explicit and the if block will only run if the variable stores a None value.

The condition wouldn't be satisfied if the variable stores any other falsy value.

You can also extract the logic into a reusable function.

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def convert_to_str(value):
    if value is None:
        return ''

    return str(value)


# 👇️ ""
print(convert_to_str(None))

# 👇️ "bobbyhadz.com"
print(convert_to_str('bobbyhadz.com'))

# Convert None to an Empty string using a one-line if/else statement

You can also use a one-liner if/else statement.

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name = None

name = "" if name is None else name

print(repr(name))  # 👉️ ""

If the variable stores None, it gets set to an empty string, otherwise it gets set to its current value.

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name = 'hello'

name = "" if name is None else name

print(name)  # 👉️ "hello"

# Convert None to an Empty string using a custom function

You can also use a custom function to convert None to an empty string.

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def convert_to_str(value):
    return '' if value is None else str(value)


print(convert_to_str(None)) # 👉️ ""
print(convert_to_str('hello')) # 👉️ 'hello'
print(convert_to_str(100)) # 👉️ '100'

The function takes a value as a parameter and returns an empty string if the supplied value is None.

If the value is not None, the value is converted to a string and passed to the str() class.

# Convert None to an Integer (e.g. 0) in Python

Use the boolean OR operator to convert NoneType to an integer in Python, e.g. result = None or 0.

The boolean OR operator will return the value to the right-hand side because the value to the left (None) is falsy.

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my_var = None

# ✅ Convert None to 0
result_1 = my_var or 0
print(result_1)  # 👉️ 0

# ✅ Convert None to 100
result_2 = my_var or 100
print(result_2)  # 👉️ 100

The first code sample converts None to 0.

If you need to convert the value to an integer if it isn't one already, use the int() class.

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value = None

my_int = int(value or 0)

print(my_int) # 👉️ 0

We used the boolean or operator to return an integer if the value to the left is falsy.

All values that are not truthy are considered falsy. The falsy values in Python are:

• constants defined to be falsy: None and False.
• 0 (zero) of any numeric type
• empty sequences and collections: "" (empty string), () (empty tuple), [] (empty list), {} (empty dictionary), set() (empty set), range(0) (empty range).

Since None is a falsy value, the expression None or y is always going to return y.

# Convert None to an Integer (e.g. 0) using an if statement

Alternatively, you can use an if statement to check if the variable stores None and reassign it to an integer.

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my_var = None

if my_var is None:
    my_var = 0

print(my_var)  # 👉️ 0

Checking for None is much more explicit and the if block will only run if the variable stores a None value.

The condition wouldn't be satisfied if the variable stores any other falsy value.

# Convert None to an Integer using a one-liner if/else statement

You can also use a one-liner if/else statement.

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my_var = None

# ✅ Convert None to 0
my_var = 0 if my_var is None else my_var

print(my_var)  # 👉️ 0

If the variable stores None, it gets set to 0, otherwise it gets set to its current value.

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my_var = 123

my_var = 0 if my_var is None else my_var

print(my_var)  # 👉️ 123

The variable in the example doesn't store a None value, so its value remains unchanged.

# Convert None to an Integer using a custom function

You can also define a reusable function that converts None to an integer.

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def convert_to_int(value):
    if value is None:
        return 0

    return int(value)


print(convert_to_int(None))  # 👉️ 0
print(convert_to_int(100))  # 👉️ 100

print(convert_to_int('500'))  # 👉️ 500

The function takes a value as a parameter and checks if the value is None.

If the condition is met, 0 is returned, otherwise, the result of passing the value to the int() class is returned.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• How to Convert JSON NULL values to None using Python
• Check if a Variable is or is not None in Python
• How to Return a default value if None in Python