In Python, how can I parse a numeric string like \"545.2222\" to its corresponding float value, 545.2222? Or parse the string \"31\" t
If you aren't averse to third-party modules, you could check out the fastnumbers module. It provides a function called fast_real that does exactly what this question is asking for and does it faster than a pure-Python implementation:
>>> from fastnumbers import fast_real
>>> fast_real("545.2222")
545.2222
>>> type(fast_real("545.2222"))
float
>>> fast_real("31")
31
>>> type(fast_real("31"))
int