#!/usr/bin/env python def displayNumType(num): print num, 'is', if isinstance(num, (int, long, float, complex)): print 'a number of type:', type(num).__name__ else: print 'not a number at all!!' displayNumType(-69) displayNumType(9999999999999999999999L) displayNumType(98.6) displayNumType(-5.2+1.9j) displayNumType('xxx')