Python F-Strings Basics Cheat Sheet

by Brian Allan (BrianAllan) via cheatography.com/133708/cs/29498/

What are F-Strings? Conversion Field Options

What are F-Strings? !s calls str() on the value of the f-expr​ession

Strings prefixed with 'f' or 'F' and containing Python expres​​sions !r calls repr() on the value of the f-expr​ession
inside curly braces for evaluation at run time. They are more
!a calls ascii() on the value of the f-expr​ession
formally known as "​for​matted string litera​ls" and were introduced
with Python 3.6.  str() returns string value repres​ent​ations that are human
readable for the end user.
How are F-Strings Useful?
 repr() returns string value repres​ent​ations for the interp​reter
They provide a concise, readable way to include the value of a and develo​pers.
Python expres​​sion with formatting control inside strings.  !s, !r, !a conver​sions are redundant since arbitrary expres​sions
What Are Other Ways to Format Strings in Python? are allowed in the replac​ement fields; so, one could just as easily
 str.fo​rmat(): the string format() method replace !r by using repr() on the f-expr​ession and similarly for the

 %-form​atting: old string formatting using the string modulo​/pe​‐ others.

rcent operator %
 string.Te​mplate: template class of the string module Examples: Conversion Field

x, name = 'cat', 'Sophia'

F-String Template # explicitly using the string conversion !s (the default)
f" text {replacement_field} text ... " f"The black {x!s}" 'The black cat'
 Inside the quotes the f-string consists of two kinds of parts: (1) # using the string conversion !r adds quotes
regular string literals, i.e., text, and (2) replac​ement fields containing
f"The black {x!r}" "The black 'cat'"
Python expres​sions for evaluation along with formatting control.
f"Her name is {name!​r}."​ "Her name is 'Sophi​a'."​
 Double quotes are used in this repres​ent​ative pattern but single
or triple quotes could also be used. # !r is equivalent to using repr() on the expression
 F-strings may consist of just a replac​ement field: f"The black {repr(​x)}​" "The black 'cat'"
f"{r​epl​ace​men​t_f​iel​d}"
Format Specifier
Replac​ement Field

{f-expression = !conversion:format_specifier} :fill align sign # 0 width sep .precision type

 A replac​ement field is signaled by a pair of curly braces: { }
 A replac​ement field consists of an expression with optional Brief Summary of the Format Specif​ication Mini-L​anguage
debugging mode (=), type conversion (!), and format specif​ication fill : the padding character

(:). align : alignment of text within the space

 Substi​tuting into the f-string template: sign : how + and - are used preceding numbers
# : alternate presen​tation format for some number types
f" text {f-exp​ression = !conve​rsi​on:​for​mat​_sp​eci​‐ 0 : sign-a​ware, zero-p​adding on numbers
fier} text ... " width : the minimum total field width
sep : the separator character for numbers (',' or '_')
.precision : determines how many digits displayed for floats;
maximum field width for strings
type : the type of presen​tation to use based on data type

Note: sign, #, 0, sep, precision, and type are of particular

interest for number formatting. For inform​ation about number format​‐
ting, see my cheatsheet Python F-Strings Number Formatting.

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 Python F-Strings Basics Cheat Sheet
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Format Specifier: Options Examples: Simple F-Strings (cont)

fill align sign #0 width sep .prec type # f-expr​essions need different quotes than the outer quotes

char < + digit(s) _ digit(s) string: s f'The black {'cat'}' 

> - , number: n # Or, f-expr​essions can use a variable to represent the string
^ '' integer : d, b, o, f'The black {x}' 'The black cat'
x, X, c # for debugging, an equal sign can be used after an f-expr​ession to
= float: e, E, f, F, display the expression text and its value
g, G, % f"The black {x=}" "The black x='cat​'"

# backslash escapes can be used in text

String Presen​tation Type
f"The black \'cat​\'" "The black 'cat'"
simplified form: f" text {f-exp​res​sio​n:type} text ..."
# doubled curly braces for a single curly brace in text
s String format. This is the default type for strings and may be
f"The {{black}} {x}" 'The {black} cat'
omitted.
None Same as s # using .precision to enforce a maximum field width of 7
f"{'The black cat':.7​}" 'The bla'
 Where the value of the f-expr​ession is a string, the replac​ement
field could make explicit the string presen​tation type {f-exp​res​‐ # Multi-line f-strings
sion:s} but :s can be omitted since this is the default for strings. f"""
 .precision can be used with strings to enforce a maximum field The black '\nThe black​\ncat'
width: {f-exp​res​sio​n:.p​re​cision} cat"​"​"

Examples: Simple F-Strings Examples: Complex F-Expr​essions

x = 'cat' colors = ['blue', 'green', 'yellow', 'red']

# f-expr​ession can be a string pets = {'cats': 2, 'dogs': 1}

f"The black {'cat'​}" 'The black cat' # f-expr​ession with indexing and a method call
# f-expr​ession can be a variable with a string value f"{c​olo​rs[​2].t​it​le()} is my favorite color."​
f"The black {x}" 'The black cat' 'Yellow is my favorite color.'
# error when neither a string nor a defined variable # f-expr​ession with slicing
f"The black {cat}"  f"{c​olo​rs[​:3]​}"

# including f-string in string concat​enation "['blue', 'green', 'yello​w']​"

'The ' 'black ' f"{x​}" 'The black cat' # f-expr​ession with a function call

# including f-string in string concat​enation f"There are {len(c​olors)} option​s."

'The ' + 'black ' + f"{x​}" 'The black cat' 'There are 4 options.'

# f-strings can use single, double, or triple quotes # using dictionary keys and an arithm​etical operation

f'The ' f"black " f'''cat''' 'The black cat' f"She has {pets[​'cats'] + pets['​dogs']} pets."

# text inside the f-string must contain a different kind of quotes than 'She has 3 pets.'
the outer quotes # for debugging, an equal sign can be used to display the f-expr​‐
f'The 'black' cat'  ession and its value
f"She has {pets[​'cats'] + pets['​dogs'] = } pets."

"She has pets['​cats'] + pets['​dogs'] = 3 pets."

# using a condit​ional expression

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 Python F-Strings Basics Cheat Sheet
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Examples: Complex F-Expr​essions (cont) Examples: Fill, Align, Width (cont)

f"She {'has' if (pets[​'cats'] > pets['​dogs']) else # BUT: when using a nested replac​ement field for fill, the value of the
'does not have'} more cats than dogs." variable has to be the string of the symbol ('*'), not the symbol (*)

'She has more cats than dogs.' fill = '*'

f"Go {'cent​er'​:{f​ill​}^1​2}" 'Go ***cen​ter***'
# dictionary keys used by f-string must have different kind of quotes
f'She has {pet['​cat​s']}.'  # Default fill when not specified is the space character
f"Go {'righ​t':​>10​}" 'Go ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​right'
Format​ting: Fill, Align, Width # Default for strings when not specified: fill (space), left align (<)
f"{f​-ex​pre​ssi​on:fill align width}​" f"Go {'left​':1​0}" 'Go left '
width a decimal integer defining the minimum total field width. If # Default for numbers when not specified: fill (space), right align (>)
not specified, the field width is determined by the content.
f"Total: {5:8}" 'Total: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 5'
align determines the alignment of text within the available space --
left-a​ligned (<), right-​aligned (>), or centered (^) Example: For Loop and Nested Replac​ement Fields
fill determines the character to use for padding to achieve the width = 12
minimum total field width. The default is the space character.
for text, fill in zip(['​left', 'center', 'right'],
'<^​>'):
Alignment Options
​ ​ ​ ​align = fill
< Left-a​lig​nment (the default for most objects) ​ ​ ​ ​pri​nt(​f"{t​ext​:{f​ill​}{a​lig​n}{​wid​th}​}")
> Right-​ali​gnment (the default for numbers)
left<<<<<<<<
^ Centered ^^^cen​ter^^^
= Sign-aware padding. For numeric types: Places the padding >>>​>>>​>right
before the digits but after the sign (if any)
Example: Text Template Function
Examples: Fill, Align, Width # function with f-string as message template
# fill (.), right align (>), width (12) def messag​e(name, num):

f"Go {'righ​t':.>1​2}" 'Go .......right' ​ ​ ​ ​return f"{n​ame.ti​tle​()}'s number is {num}."​

messag​e('​jenny', 8675309)
# fill (!), left align (<), width (12)

f"Go {'left​':!​<12​}" 'Go left!!​!!!!!!' "Jenny's number is 867530​9."

# fill (*), center align (^), width (12)

f"Go {'cent​er'​:*^​12}​" 'Go ***cen​ter***'

# nested replac​ement fields allow for the use of variables in the

format specifier
fill, align, width = '*', '^', 12
f"Go {'cent​er'​:{f​ill​}{a​lig​n}{​wid​th}​}"

'Go ***cen​ter***'
# NOTE: the fill is the symbol (*), not the symbol as string ('*')
f"Go {'cent​er'​:'*​'^1​2}" 

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 Python F-Strings Basics Cheat Sheet
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Example: Row Template for Table Creation Short List of Datetime Formatting Directives

# data for table Directive Meaning Example

presidents = [ %A Weekday full name Sunday, Monday,...
​ ​ ​ ​['G​eorge Washin​gton', 1, 1789, 1797],
%a Weekday abbrev​iated Sun, Mon,...
​ ​ ​ ​['John Adams', 2, 1797, 1801],
%B Month full name January, Februa​ry,...
​ ​ ​ ​['T​homas Jeffer​son', 3, 1801, 1809]
] %b Month abbrev​iated Jan, Feb,...

# create row template function %d Day of Month 01, 02, 03,...

def row(name, num, start, end): %Y Year with Century 2019, 2020,...
​ ​ ​ ​return f"| {name:​<20} | {num:2} | {start} -
%y Year without Century 19, 20,...
{end} |"
# print rows iterat​ively
References
for p in presid​ents:
 "A Guide to the Newer Python String Format Techni​que​s" by John
​ ​ ​ ​pri​nt(​row​(p[0], p[1], p[2], p[3]))
Sturtz at Real Python: https:​//r​eal​pyt​hon.co​m/p​yth​on-​for​mat​ted​-ou​‐
| George Washington | 1 | 1789 - 1797 | tpu​t/#​the​-py​tho​n-f​orm​att​ed-​str​ing​-li​ter​al-​f-s​tring
| John Adams ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ | 2 | 1797 - 1801 |
 "​Python 3's f-Strings: An Improved String Formatting Syntax
| Thomas Jefferson ​ ​ | 3 | 1801 - 1809 |
(Guide​)" by Joanna Jablonski at Real Python: https:​//r​eal​pyt​hon.co​‐
m/p​yth​on-​f-s​trings/
Example: Title Bar
 "​Format String Syntax​" including "​Format Specif​ication Mini-L​ang​‐
fill, align, width = '*', '^', 21
uag​e" from the page "string -- Common string operat​ion​s":
for text in ['', ' Title ', '']:
https:​//d​ocs.py​tho​n.o​rg/​3/l​ibr​ary​/st​rin​g.h​tml​#fo​rma​t-s​tri​ng-​syntax
​ ​ ​ ​pri​nt(​f"{t​ext​:{f​ill​}{a​lig​n}{​wid​th}​}")
 "​2.4.3. Formatted string litera​ls" from the page "2. Lexical analys​‐
********************* is": https:​//d​ocs.py​tho​n.o​rg/​3/r​efe​ren​ce/​lex​ica​l_a​nal​ysi​s.h​tml​#fo​rma​‐
******* Title ******* tte​d-s​tri​ng-​lit​erals
*******​***​***​***​*****
 "PEP 498 -- Literal String Interp​ola​tio​n": https:​//w​ww.p​yt​hon.or​g/d​‐
ev/​pep​s/p​ep-​0498/
Datetime Formatting with F-Strings
 "​Python String Format Cookbo​ok": https:​//m​kaz.bl​og/​cod​e/p​yth​‐
Some Python objects have their own format specifiers to replace the on-​str​ing​-fo​rma​t-c​ook​book/
standard ones. An example of this behavior is found in the date,
datetime, and time objects of the datetime module.

# using the datetime module to obtain today's date

import datetime
today = dateti​me.d​at​e.t​oday()
f"{t​oda​y}" '2022-03-14'

# object​-sp​ecific formatting directives used in place of the standard

format specifiers
f"{t​oda​y:%A, %B %d, %Y}"

'Monday, March 14, 2022'

# the output is the same as using the strftime() method of the
datetime module

today.s​tr​fti​me(​"%A, %B %d, %Y")

'Monday, March 14, 2022'

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