Python string formatting with f-string

F-strings are introduced in Python 3.6. They provide an efficient way to format strings. F-strings make it easier for us to create easy-to-read and maintainable code. F-strings are literal strings with the prefix 'f' or 'F'.

Usage of f-strings.

With Python f-strings, I can embed expressions inside string literals. The syntax is simple. I need to prefix the string with the letter 'f' or 'F' and enclose any expressions I want to include in curly braces {}.

Below is a simple example of how to use f-strings:

name = "Lance"
age = 35
print(f"My name is {name}, and I am {age} years old.")

In this example, I create a string with two variables, name and age. By enclosing the variables in curly braces, I have created a template that will substitute the values of these variables at runtime.

The output is:

My name is Lance, and I am 35 years old.

Evaluate expressions in f-strings.

What I like the most about the f-strings is their ability to evaluate expressions. That means I can include any valid Python expression inside curly braces, which will be evaluated and substituted with its result.

Here is another example:

a = 5
b = 3
print(f"The sum of {a} and {b} is {a + b}.")

Here I have used an expression inside the f-string to calculate the sum of variables a and b.

The resulting output is:

The sum of 5 and 3 is 8.

Format numbers and strings.

F-strings can also be used to format numbers and strings in various ways. Below are some examples.

# Format a number with a certain number of decimal places
pi = 3.141592653589793
print(f"Pi is approximately equal to {pi:.2f}")


# Format an integer with leading zeros
num = 42
print(f"The answer is {num:03d}")


# Format a string with a fixed width and center it
word = "Python"
print(f"|{word:^10}|")

In the first example, I used an f-string to format the value of pi to two decimal places.

The expected output is:

Pi is approximately equal to 3.14

In the second example, I used an f-string to format the integer value of num with leading zeros.

The output is:

The answer is 042

In the third example, I used an f-string to format the string value of a word with a fixed width of 10 characters. Then I centered it.

The output is: | Python |

Create dynamic SQL queries.

F-strings can also be used in more advanced scenarios. For example, I can use f-strings to construct SQL queries dynamically.

Here is how to do it:

table = "users"
column = "name"
name = "John"
query = f"SELECT * FROM {table} WHERE {column} = '{name}'"
print(query)

In the above example, I used an f-string to construct a SQL query that selects all records from a table where a specific column matches a specific value. So I have three variables table, column, and column name. By enclosing those variables in curly braces, I can create a template that can be filled in dynamically at runtime.