Formatting is used to organize the numbers in a proper way that reduces the error chances like 34000000. It is difficult to count some zeros but what if we write the number as 34,000,000? With separators, the readability is increased and the chance of error is reduced. With the help of commas, we can easily count many zeros in the value. Python allows formatting of numbers like rounding off a floating point value to the specified decimal place and adding separators like commas in integer values or floating point values. In Python, we have two methods through which we can format the numbers – one is format() and the other is f-string. These two techniques enable us to format our numbers.
Ways to Format the Numbers
We will discuss how we can format our data to make it look tidy and summarizing. Different methodologies are applied for formatting the numbers. These methods are given in the following with a coding example.
Format the Floating Point Values
The formatting of floating point values can be done by rounding off the numbers to the nearest or given decimal place. Another formatting can be applied to the float values but the rounding off of values can only be applied to float values.
- Round off the floating point value to the nearest integer: We round off the float value to the nearest integer value. We can use the round() method by rounding off a number to the nearest numerical value.
- Round off the floating point value to a given decimal place: We provide the decimal place; it can be one decimal place, two decimal places, or n- decimal place.
Example:
In this example code, we will learn how to round off the floating point numbers to our specified decimal place and the closest integer value.
Code:
print("Nearest integer {:.0f}".format(value_0))
print("Upto 2dp {:.2f}".format(value_0))
print("Upto 4dp {:.4f}".format(value_0))
Output:
In this Python code, we first initialize a value. The value here is a float value but we have not declared the variable because we don’t have to do this in Python. The compiler automatically knows what the type of variable is. Next, utilize the print() function to represent the number after rounding it off. The first print() displays the number after rounding it off to the nearest integer value which is 6776 and it erases all the digits after the decimal point and convert it to an integer from a float. To do this formatting, we use the {:.0f}.format() method. If we replace the .0f with .2f, it rounds off the number to 2 decimal places and then change to .4f. The digit with .f rounds off until that decimal place.
Separator
Separators, as the name itself say, separate the numbers. The separator can be of our choice; it depends on the programmer which separator they want to use; it can be either comma (,) space, or any symbol.
Example:
In this code, we will talk about separators and implement the most common separator that we use.
Code:
print(" After adding separator {:,}".format(Number_0))
Output:
In this example, initialize a variable with an integer value. We can also use a decimal value for applying the separators because the type of variable does not matter while applying the separators. Now, after initializing the variable, use the print() method to print the output after adding the separator. Before the .format(), we define our separator inside the curly braces with a colon like this {:,}. In place of a comma, you can put any separator that you want; there are no restrictions. Inside this method, we mention the variable name. But when we deal with numbers, we use commas to separate them.
The compiler automatically places the separator after every 3 digits if they are multiple of 3. But if we have more or fewer values than a multiple of 3, it automatically places a comma after one or two digits only once. And then, it puts a comma after every three digits.
Format Percentage
The percentage format converts the value to the percentage. For that purpose, we can use the f-string method. Any given decimal value can be converted to a percentage value.
Example:
In the code, we will see the percentage format of numbers.
Code:
print(" Percentage of number is {:.0%}".format(Number_1))
Output:
First of all, initialize a variable with a value. Then, we find its percentage using the .format() method. After initializing, use the print() method to display the outcome. Inside print(), we format the number. We just put the percentage symbol after the .0 and it formats the number to the percentage. If we change the 0 with another number, it finds the percentage up to that place.
Format to the Base
We can convert the decimal value to the binary or binary into decimal and in another base that you state. This is very useful since we sometimes do coding in binary. To make it human readable, we have to convert the base to decimal or hexadecimal. Python formatting makes this simple to accomplish.
Example:
In this example code, we will convert the decimal number to the binary by just using a single line of code.
Code:
print(f"{number_0} in binary is {number_0:b}")
Output:
Initialize a number which is an integer value. We use an f-string to convert the base to the binary. Now, in the print() method, use the letter f which tells the compiler that we are using an f-string. Inside the double quotes of “f”, display the value by placing the variable name in it and a message with that. By just putting “:b” after the variable name inside the curly braces, we can convert the integer value to the binary value. The base conversion becomes easy in Python by just using a single line of code where we can change the base.
The Format in Scientific Notation
The formatting in scientific notation pushes the values to the power of “e”. It is used when we have a big digit to use an estimated value or approximate of a number.
Example:
In the example, we will see the number format in Python by changing it to scientific notation.
Code:
print("{:e}".format(Value_1))
Output:
In the example, the code initializes any type of value, either integer or floating. Then, it uses the f-string method to format the number from a simple number to scientific notation that makes it easy to read. Inside the print() method, use {:e}. The e changes the number that is in the format() to scientific notation. This way, we can format the numbers to scientific notation.
Conclusion
We studied the formatting in Python and the ways where we can make the numbers more clear and readable. We can make it possible by formatting the numbers in many ways by adding the separators or by rounding them off. It depends on the requirement of the code and what it demands from the programmer. When you have to display the money (the cost of something), we can format the numbers to the currency. This article covered everything you should know to format any number.
