Getting ready

The main tool to format strings in Python is the format method. It works with a defined mini-language to render variables this way:

result = template.format(*parameters)

The template is a string that gets interpreted based on the mini-language. At its easiest, it replaces the values between curly brackets with the parameters. Here are a couple of examples:

>>> 'Put the value of the string here: {}'.format('STRING')
"Put the value of the string here: STRING"
>>> 'It can be any type ({}) and more than one ({})'.format(1.23, str)
"It can be any type (1.23) and more than one (<class 'str'>)"
>> 'Specify the order: {1}, {0}'.format('first', 'second')
'Specify the order: second, first'
>>> 'Or name parameters: {first}, {second}'.format(second='SECOND', first='FIRST')
'Or name parameters: FIRST, SECOND'

In 95% of cases, this formatting will be all that's required; keeping things simple is great! But for complicated times, such as when aligning the strings automatically and creating good looking text tables, the mini-language format has more options.