How do I check if a string is a number (float)?

Question

What is the best possible way to check if a string can be represented as a number in Python?

The function I currently have right now is:

def is_numb         


        

Answer 1

import re
def is_number(num):
    pattern = re.compile(r'^[-+]?[-0-9]\d*\.\d*|[-+]?\.?[0-9]\d*$')
    result = pattern.match(num)
    if result:
        return True
    else:
        return False


​>>>: is_number('1')
True

>>>: is_number('111')
True

>>>: is_number('11.1')
True

>>>: is_number('-11.1')
True

>>>: is_number('inf')
False

>>>: is_number('-inf')
False