[Tutor] converting string to a number

[nik]

hi,

I have a string that could either be a number or text, and I'd like to 
test which it is.

If I do

try:
	number = string.atof(str)
	# do my number stuff
except: 
	text = str
	# do my string stuff

then it's using the exception handling like an if statement. This feels kinda wrong (hacky or lazy).

Is it, or is it an acceptable method in python?


nik