Description format()

Python format()

The built-in format() method returns a formatted representation of the given value controlled by the format specifier.

The format() method is similar to String format method. Internally, both methods call __format__() method of an object.
While, built-in format() method is a low level implementation for formatting an object using __format__() internally, string format() is a higher level implementation able to perform complex formatting operations on multiple object string as well.
The syntax of format() is:
format(value[, format_spec])

format() Parameters

The format() method takes two parameters:
• value - value that needs to be formatted
• format_spec - The specification on how the value should be formatted.
The format specifier could be in the format:

[[fill]align][sign][#][0][width][,][.precision][type]
where, the options are
fill ::= any character
align ::= "<" | ">" | "=" | "^"
sign ::= "+" | "-" | " "
width ::= integer
precision ::= integer
type ::= "b" | "c" | "d" | "e" | "E" | "f" | "F" | "g" | "G" | "n" | "o" | "s" | "x" | "X" | "%"

Return value from format()

The format() method returns a formatted representation of a given value specified by the format specifier.

Example 1: Number formatting with format()

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# d, f and b are type

# integer
print(format(123, "d"))

# float arguments
print(format(123.4567898, "f"))

# binary format
print(format(12, "b"))
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When you run the program, the output will be:
123
123.456790
1100

Example 2: Number formatting with fill, align, sign, width, precision and type

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# integer
print(format(1234, "*>+7,d"))

# float number
print(format(123.4567, "^-09.3f"))
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When you run the program, the output will be:
*+1,234
0123.4570
Here, when formatting the integer 1234, we've specified the formatting specifier *<+7,d. Let's get to each option:
• * - It is the fill character that fills up the empty spaces after formatting
• > - It is the right alignment option that aligns the output string to the right
• + - It is the sign option that forces the number to be signed (having a sign on its left)
• 7 - It is the width option that forces the number to take a minimum width of 7, other spaces will be filled by fill character
• , - It is the thousands operator that places a comma between all thousands.
• d - It is the type option that specifies the number is an integer.
When formatting the floating point number 123.4567, we've specified the format specifier ^-09.3f. These are:
• ^ - It is the center alignment option that aligns the output string to the center of the remaining space
• - - It is the sign option that forces only negative numbers to show the sign
• 0 - It is the character that is placed in place of the empty spaces.
• 9 - It is the width option that sets the minimum width of the number to 9 (including decimal point, thousands comma and sign)
• .3 - It is the precision operator that sets the precision of the given floating number to 3 places
• f - It is the type option that specifies the number is a float.

Example 3: Using format() by overriding __format__()

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# custom __format__() method
class Person:
def __format__(self, format):
if(format == 'age'):
return '23'
return 'None'

print(format(Person(), "age"))
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When you run the program, the output will be:
23
Here, we have overriden the __format__() method of the class Person.
It now accepts a parameter code>age to return 23. If no format is specified, None is returned.
The format() method internally runs Person().__format__("age") to return 23.