How to Fix ZeroDivisionError in Python

In Python, a ZeroDivisionError is raised when a division or modulo operation is attempted with a denominator or divisor of 0.

What Causes ZeroDivisionError

A ZeroDivisionError occurs in Python when a number is attempted to be divided by zero. Since division by zero is not allowed in mathematics, attempting this in Python code raises a ZeroDivisionError.

Python ZeroDivisionError Example

Here’s an example of a Python ZeroDivisionError thrown due to division by zero:

a = 10
b = 0
print(a/b)

In this example, a number a is attempted to be divided by another number b, whose value is zero, leading to a ZeroDivisionError:

File "test.py", line 3, in <module>
    print(a/b)
ZeroDivisionError: division by zero

How to Fix ZeroDivisionError in Python

The ZeroDivisionError can be avoided using a conditional statement to check for a denominator or divisor of 0 before performing the operation.

The code in the earlier example can be updated to use an if statement to check if the denominator is 0:

a = 10
b = 0
if b == 0:
    print("Cannot divide by zero")
else:
    print(a/b)

Running the above code produces the correct output as expected:

Cannot divide by zero

A try-except block can also be used to catch and handle this error if the value of the denominator is not known beforehand:

try:
    a = 10
    b = 0
    print(a/b)
except ZeroDivisionError as e:
    print("Error: Cannot divide by zero")

Surrounding the code in try-except blocks like the above allows the program to continue execution after the exception is encountered:

Error: Cannot divide by zero

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