This post is long overdue. In 2016, I wrote three posts on how to achieve well formatted print statements (1, 2, 3). However, on December 23, 2016, Python 3.6 was released, which added f-string.

What are f-strings?

f-strings are a string formatting syntax. They are similar to .format() in that they allow us to generate well formatted strings. However, they are easier to read and write, and usually involve less typing.

What can f-strings do?

f-strings can do everything .format() can, and more. Let’s start by updating some of the examples included in my previous posts to now use f-string.

Example from the first post:

num = 1
denom = 3
val = num/denom

# .format()
print('{} divided by {} equals {}'.format(num, denom, val))
# Revised to use f-strings
print(f'{num} divded by {denom} equals {val}')

The output of both print statements is the same:

1 divded by 3 equals 0.3333333333333333

Examples from the second post:

from math import pi

# .format()
print('Pi with 6 total spaces, including 5 digits after the decimal point {:6.5f}'.format(pi))
print('Pi with 2 total spaces, including 1 digits after the decimal point {:2.1f}'.format(pi))
print('Pi with 8 total spaces, including 1 digits after the decimal point {:8.1f}'.format(pi))

# Revised to use f-strings
print(f'Pi with 6 total spaces, including 5 digits after the decimal point {pi:6.5f}')
print(f'Pi with 2 total spaces, including 1 digits after the decimal point {pi:2.1f}')
print(f'Pi with 8 total spaces, including 1 digits after the decimal point {pi:8.1f}')

The outputs are the same:

Pi with 6 total digits, including 5 digits after the decimal point 3.14159
Pi with 4 total digits, including 1 digits after the decimal point 3.1
Pi with 8 total digits, including 1 digits after the decimal point       3.1

Examples from the third post:

# .format()

# Example 1
print('L {:<20} R'.format('x'))
# Example 2
print('L {:^20} R'.format('x'))
# Example 3
print('L {:>20} R'.format('x'))

# Revised to use f-strings

# Example 1
print(f'L {"x":<20} R')
# Example 2
print(f'L {"x":^20} R')
# Example 3
print(f'L {"x":>20} R')

Same:

L x                    R
L          x           R
L                    x R

# .format()
print ('{:=<20}'.format('hello'))
print ('{:_^20}'.format('hello'))
print ('{:|>20}'.format('hello'))

# Revised to use f-strings
print (f'{"hello":=<20}')
print (f'{"hello":_^20}')
print (f'{"hello":|>20}')

Same:

hello===============
_______hello________
|||||||||||||||hello

data = [['NAME', 'AGE', 'HANDEDNESS', 'SCORE (%)'],
        ['Martin', 38, 'L', 54.123],
        ['Marty', 33, 'L', 32.438],
        ['Martine', 25, 'R', 71.128],
        ['Martyn', 59, 'R', 50.472],
        ['Mart', 23, 'L', 2.438],
        ['Martyne', 15, 'R', 71.128],
        ['Marlyn', 101, 'R', 0.472],
        ['Marti', 2, 'L', 55.438],
        ['Mardi', 9, 'R', 81.128],
        ['Martyne', 49, 'R', 24.472],
        ['Marteen', 91, 'L', 1.128]]


dash = '-' * 40

# .format()
for i in range(len(data)):
    if i == 0:
      print(dash)
      print('{:<10s}{:>4s}{:>12s}{:>12s}'.format(data[i][0], data[i][1], data[i][2], data[i][3]))
      print(dash)
    else:
      print('{:<10s}{:>4d}{:^12s}{:>12.1f}'.format(data[i][0], data[i][1], data[i][2], data[i][3]))

# Revised to use f-strings
for i in range(len(data)):
    if i == 0:
      print(dash)
      print(f'{data[i][0]:<10s}{data[i][1]:>4s}{data[i][2]:>12s}{data[i][3]:>12s}')
      print(dash)
    else:
        print(f'{data[i][0]:<10s}{data[i][1]:>4d}{data[i][2]:>12s}{data[i][3]:>12.1f}')

And, you guessed it, same:

----------------------------------------
NAME       AGE  HANDEDNESS   SCORE (%)
----------------------------------------
Martin      38           L        54.1
Marty       33           L        32.4
Martine     25           R        71.1
Martyn      59           R        50.5
Mart        23           L         2.4
Martyne     15           R        71.1
Marlyn     101           R         0.5
Marti        2           L        55.4
Mardi        9           R        81.1
Martyne     49           R        24.5
Marteen     91           L         1.1

What additional things can f-strings do?

f-strings are evaluated at runtime. That means we can use valid Python expressions in them. For example:

>>> f'The sum of 5 and 2 is {5+2}'
'The sum of 5 and 2 is 7'
>>> f'2 to the power of 10 is {2**10}'
'2 to the power of 10 is 1024'
>>> f'2 to the power of 8, 10, 12, 26 is {[2**power for power in [8, 10, 12, 16]]}'
'2 to the power of 8, 10, 12, 26 is [256, 1024, 4096, 65536]'

You can also call functions within f-strings:

def remove_first_e(word):
    found_e = False
    revised_word = list()
    for letter in word:
        if not found_e and letter == 'e':
            found_e = True
        else:
            revised_word.append(letter)
    return ''.join(revised_word)

name = 'Martin Heroux' 
print(f'{name} with the first e removed is {remove_first_e(name)}')

The above will print:

Martin Heroux with the first e removed is Martin Hroux

You can also use methods in f-strings:

name = 'marTin HeRoUx'
print(f'We will make {name} into allcaps, which produces {name.upper()}')

The above will print:

We will make marTin HeRoUx into allcaps, which produces MARTIN HEROUX

And, for long print statements, you can use multiple f-strings within the same statement:

# This won't work
mean, sd, min, max = 44, 7, 29, 79
print (f'The mean value is {mean}\n'
       'The standard deviation is {sd}\n'
       'The min is {min}\n'
       'The max is {max}\n')

# But this will
print (f'The mean value is {mean}\n'
       f'The standard deviation is {sd}\n'
       f'The min is {min}\n'
       f'The max is {max}\n')

The incorrect version generates:

The mean value is 44
The standard deviation is {sd}
The min is {min}
The max is {max}

Whereas the correct version generates:

The mean value is 44
The standard deviation is 7
The min is 29
The max is 79

Conclusion

As you can see, f-strings are super useful. Once you start using them you will never go back!