Quick Answer

Handle operations between incompatible data types.

Understanding the Issue

Python enforces strict type compatibility for operators. TypeError occurs when attempting operations like: arithmetic between numeric and non-numeric types, sequence concatenation with incompatible members, or function calls with invalid argument types.

The Problem

This code demonstrates the issue:

Python Error 
sum = "5" + 3           # Fails
items = [1, 2] + "three"  # Fails
import math
math.sqrt("64")           # Fails

The Solution

Here's the corrected code:

Python Fixed 
# Solution 1: Explicit conversion
sum = int("5") + 3

# Solution 2: Type checking
def safe_add(a, b):
    if isinstance(a, (int, float)) and isinstance(b, (int, float)):
        return a + b
    raise TypeError("Operands must be numeric")

Key Takeaways

Validate input types and convert explicitly when needed.