How can I convert a string to an int in Python?

Question

The output I'm getting for my little example app is the following:

Welcome to the Calculator!
Please choose what you'd like to do:
0: Addition
1: Subtraction
2: Multiplication
3: Division
4: Quit Application
0
Enter your first number: 1
Enter your second number: 1
Your result is:
11

This is because the addition() method is taking the input() as strings and not numbers. How can I use them as numbers?

Here is my entire script:

def addition(a, b):
    return a + b

def subtraction(a, b):
    return a - b

def multiplication(a, b):
    return a * b

def division(a, b):
    return a / b

keepProgramRunning = True

print "Welcome to the Calculator!"

while keepProgramRunning:    
    print "Please choose what you'd like to do:"

    print "0: Addition"
    print "1: Subtraction"
    print "2: Multiplication"
    print "3: Division"
    print "4: Quit Application"



    #Capture the menu choice.
    choice = raw_input()    

    if choice == "0":
        numberA = raw_input("Enter your first number: ")
        numberB = raw_input("Enter your second number: ")
        print "Your result is:"
        print addition(numberA, numberB)
    elif choice == "1":
        numberA = raw_input("Enter your first number: ")
        numberB = raw_input("Enter your second number: ")
        print "Your result is:"
        print subtraction(numberA, numberB)
    elif choice == "2":
        numberA = raw_input("Enter your first number: ")
        numberB = raw_input("Enter your second number: ")
        print "Your result is:"
        print multiplication(numberA, numberB)
    elif choice == "3":
        numberA = raw_input("Enter your first number: ")
        numberB = raw_input("Enter your second number: ")
        print "Your result is:"
        print division(numberA, numberB)
    elif choice == "4":
        print "Bye!"
        keepProgramRunning = False
    else:
        print "Please choose a valid option."
        print "\n"

Answer 1

>>> a = "123"
>>> int(a)
123

Here's some freebie code:

def getTwoNumbers():
    numberA = raw_input("Enter your first number: ")
    numberB = raw_input("Enter your second number: ")
    return int(numberA), int(numberB)

Answer 2

Since you're writing a calculator that would presumably also accept floats (1.5, 0.03), a more robust way would be to use this simple helper function:

def convertStr(s):
    """Convert string to either int or float."""
    try:
        ret = int(s)
    except ValueError:
        #Try float.
        ret = float(s)
    return ret

That way if the int conversion doesn't work, you'll get a float returned.

Edit: Your division function might also result in some sad faces if you aren't fully aware of how python 2.x handles integer division.

In short, if you want 10/2 to equal 2.5 and not 2, you'll need to do from __future__ import division or cast one or both of the arguments to float, like so:

def division(a, b):
    return float(a) / float(b)

Answer 3

Perhaps the following, then your calculator can use arbitrary number base (e.g. hex, binary, base 7! etc): (untested)

def convert(str):
    try:
        base = 10  # default
        if ':' in str:
            sstr = str.split(':')
            base, str = int(sstr[0]), sstr[1]
        val = int(str, base)
    except ValueError:
        val = None

    return val

val = convert(raw_input("Enter value:"))
# 10     : Decimal
# 16:a   : Hex, 10
# 2:1010 : Binary, 10