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Python

Posted by Assma Al-Adawi
Assma Al-Adawi
8,723 Points

%d, %s for python

I've been using other learning platforms to supplement my python learning and I see some using %d and %s instead of .format. Is this something new, or a matter of preference?

1 Answer

andren
andren
28,558 Points
andren
andren
28,558 Points

It's an example of printf-style formatting, which is the oldest string formatting technique in Python. The format method was added to address some issues that people tended to run into with that technique.

printf-style formatting works just fine most of the times so it is mostly a matter of preference, but I'm under the impression that use of the format method is more common these days than printf-style formatting.

It's worth mentioning that Python recently added yet another string formatting technique called F-Strings, which allow you to embed variables directly in a string. But it is not usable on Treehouse since it requires Python 3.6 and up whereas Treehouse uses Python 3.5.

Assma Al-Adawi
Assma Al-Adawi
8,723 Points

Thanks so much for this info. It's really usefu!