On Apr 30, 8:30 am, Esmail <ebo...@hotmail.com> wrote: > Matt Nordhoff wrote: > > Esmail wrote: > >> Hello all, > > >> I use the print method with % for formatting my output to > >> the console since I am quite familiar with printf from my > >> C days, and I like it quite well. > > >> I am wondering if there is a way to use print to write > >> formatted output to files? > > >> Also, it seems like I read that formatting with print is > >> going away eventually and we should start using something > >> else? Is that true and if so, what? > > >> Thanks, > >> Esmail > > Hi Matt, > > > String formatting has nothing to do with the print statement/function. > > It's an operator, just like doing "foo" + "bar"; you can use it wherever > > you want. > > Ah .. so this means I could use this formatting with the > write method for files .. that is great news (you don't > want to see the ugly code I put together there .. :-) > > > See <http://docs.python.org/library/stdtypes.html#string-formatting> > > Also see <http://docs.python.org/library/string.html#formatstrings> for > > information on the replacement for the old string formatting, Python > > 2.6's new str.format(). > > Will do .. so do you think it's good to move to the new format, > or will the older one still be around for a while? > > Thanks again! > > Esmail
There is also the Template class in the stdlib string module, for unix shell/perl style "formatting". The old mod (%) formatting will be around in 3.1 and that version not even out yet, so it will be around for a couple more years at the very least. Although the new format is more powerful and slightly less error prone, there is so much old code using % that there is resistance to drop it. The printf format is also well known among C programmers. One thing many Python programmers don't like is that it is a single character operator (%). It makes formatting hard to spot. Maybe printf formatting will be moved to some module in the stdlib in the future as a compromise. I hope that the information will help you decide what to use. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
