🧪 What Type Is That? Understanding int, float, and Type Checking in GDScript

Now that I’ve learned how to use integers and floats in GDScript, it’s time to take a closer look at how Godot actually handles types behind the scenes.

At first glance, it might seem like all numbers behave the same. You declare a variable, assign a number, print it—and boom, done. But how do we really know whether a value is treated as an int or a float?

🔍 Using typeof() in GDScript

Godot provides a built-in function called typeof() that returns a special constant representing the type of a given value. These are internal type IDs, so instead of saying “this is an int” or “this is a float,” you’ll see numbers like 2, 3, or 4.

GDScript Type Codes with typeof()

Here’s an example script I used to test this:

func _ready() -> void:
	var num = 1.5
	print("Type of num:", typeof(num))  # Outputs 3
	print("------------------------")
	print("Hello float:", num)

This confirmed that 1.5 is treated as a float and returns 3 from typeof().

Then I tested an integer:

var num = 1
print("Type of num:", typeof(num))  # Outputs 2

And a string:

var text = "Hello"
print("Type of text:", typeof(text))  # Outputs 4

🧠 Why This Matters

• typeof() helps you confirm what type you’re working with—especially useful when dealing with dynamic values or debugging.
• The output of typeof() is machine-readable, not human-friendly (it returns integer IDs), but it’s still super helpful.
• Even without declaring the type directly, Godot infers the type from the value you assign.

✅ What I Learned

• GDScript supports built-in types like int, float, and String.
• You don’t need to declare types explicitly—Godot figures it out for you.
• typeof() helps reveal the underlying type of any variable.
• This is great for debugging or learning how different data types behave.

This little experiment gave me a better understanding of how Godot sees the data I’m working with—and that’s a big step forward in learning to code confidently!