How to calculate the absolute difference between two numbers in Python

How to calculate the absolute difference between two numbers in Python.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to calculate the absolute difference between two numbers in Python:

Step 1: Declare the two numbers

To begin, you need to declare the two numbers for which you want to calculate the absolute difference. You can assign them to variables for easier reference. For example, let's say you want to find the absolute difference between 5 and 9. You can declare these numbers as follows:

num1 = 5
num2 = 9

Step 2: Calculate the absolute difference

To calculate the absolute difference between the two numbers, you can use the abs() function in Python. The abs() function returns the absolute value of a given number. In this case, you can subtract one number from the other and pass the result to the abs() function. Here's an example:

diff = abs(num1 - num2)

In this example, the difference between 5 and 9 is -4. However, by passing the result to the abs() function, it becomes positive 4, which is the absolute difference between the two numbers.

Step 3: Print the result

Finally, you can print the calculated absolute difference to see the output. Here's an example:

print("The absolute difference between", num1, "and", num2, "is", diff)

This will display the following output:

The absolute difference between 5 and 9 is 4

Alternative approach using a function: You can also encapsulate the calculation of the absolute difference in a function. Here's an example:

def calculate_absolute_difference(num1, num2):
    return abs(num1 - num2)

# Usage example
result = calculate_absolute_difference(5, 9)
print("The absolute difference is", result)

This will produce the same output as before:

The absolute difference is 4

That's it! You now know how to calculate the absolute difference between two numbers in Python. Feel free to use these steps and examples as a reference in your own projects.