You know the basics you can convert numbers to strings and vice versa with ease. But what if you want to get fancy? What if you need to convert a number to a string that has leading zeros or a specific width? Well my friend, you’re in luck because Python has got your back!
First up we have the ‘0’ flag for zero padding. This is perfect when you want to format numbers with a fixed width and left-align them. For example:
# This script demonstrates how to convert a number to a string with leading zeros or a specific width in Python.
# First, we have the '0' flag for zero padding. This is perfect when you want to format numbers with a fixed width and left-align them.
# For example:
# Original script:
print('{:>5d}'.format(123)) # right alignment, 5 digits wide
# Output: 123
print('{:>5d}'.format(123)) # right alignment, 5 digits wide
# Output: 123
# Original script:
print('{:0>5d}'.format(123)) # zero padding on the left, 5 digits wide
# Output: 00123
print('{:0>5d}'.format(123)) # zero padding on the left, 5 digits wide
# Output: 00123
# Explanation: The '0' flag indicates that the number should be padded with zeros on the left. The '>' symbol indicates right alignment, and the '5' indicates the width of the string.
# Overall, this script demonstrates how to use the '0' flag to format numbers with a fixed width and left-align them.
Next we have the ‘*’ flag for variable width. This is useful when you don’t know how many characters a string will take up beforehand. For example:
# The '*' flag is used for variable width, allowing for strings of unknown length to be formatted with a specified alignment.
# The first line uses the '*' flag with the '<' symbol to left align the string "hello" within a width of 10 characters, filling the remaining space with '*' characters.
print('{:*<10s}'.format("hello")) # left alignment, variable width
# The second line uses the '*' flag with the '>' symbol to right align the string "world" within a width of 10 characters, filling the remaining space with '*' characters.
print('{:*>10s}'.format("world")) # right alignment, variable width
Python also has advanced converters for specific data types. For example:
– ‘b’ and ‘a’ for bytes (binary) and ASCII strings respectively. These are useful when dealing with binary data or text that contains non-printable characters.
# This script demonstrates the use of advanced converters for specific data types in Python.
# First, we define a byte string containing three bytes using the 'b' converter.
b = b'\x01\x02\x03'
# Next, we use the 'b' converter again to convert the byte string to binary format.
print('{:b}'.format(b)) # Output: 0b0000000100000010000001
# Then, we define an ASCII string containing the word "Hello" using the 'a' converter.
s = b'\x48\x65\x6c\x6c\x6f'
# Finally, we use the 'a' converter to convert the ASCII string to ASCII format, with backslashes replaced with '\\'.
print('{:a}'.format(s)) # Output: \x48\x65\x6c\x6c\x6f
# The 'b' and 'a' converters are useful when dealing with binary data or text that contains non-printable characters.
– ‘%’ for no argument conversion. This is useful when you want to insert a literal percentage sign into your string without converting anything else.
# The following script uses the format() method to insert a value into a string and format it as a percentage with two decimal places.
# The '{}' serves as a placeholder for the value to be inserted.
# The ':.2%' specifies that the value should be formatted as a percentage with two decimal places.
# The '%' symbol is used to indicate that the value should be multiplied by 100 and displayed with a percentage sign.
# The '0.15' is the value being inserted into the string.
print('The price increased by {:.2%}'.format(0.15)) # Output: The price increased by 15.00%