[python] Format numbers to strings in Python

I need to find out how to format numbers as strings. My code is here:

return str(hours)+":"+str(minutes)+":"+str(seconds)+" "+ampm

Hours and minutes are integers, and seconds is a float. the str() function will convert all of these numbers to the tenths (0.1) place. So instead of my string outputting "5:30:59.07 pm", it would display something like "5.0:30.0:59.1 pm".

Bottom line, what library / function do I need to do this for me?

You can use the str.format() to make Python recognize any objects to strings.

str() in python on an integer will not print any decimal places.

If you have a float that you want to ignore the decimal part, then you can use str(int(floatValue)).

Perhaps the following code will demonstrate:

>>> str(5)
'5'
>>> int(8.7)
8

You can use following to achieve desired functionality

"%d:%d:d" % (hours, minutes, seconds)

Python 2.6+

It is possible to use the format() function, so in your case you can use:

return '{:02d}:{:02d}:{:.2f} {}'.format(hours, minutes, seconds, ampm)

There are multiple ways of using this function, so for further information you can check the documentation.

Python 3.6+

f-strings is a new feature that has been added to the language in Python 3.6. This facilitates formatting strings notoriously:

return f'{hours:02d}:{minutes:02d}:{seconds:.2f} {ampm}'

You can use C style string formatting:

"%d:%d:d" % (hours, minutes, seconds)

See here, especially: https://web.archive.org/web/20120415173443/http://diveintopython3.ep.io/strings.html

I've tried this in Python 3.6.9

>>> hours, minutes, seconds = 9, 33, 35
>>> time = f'{hours:02}:{minutes:02}:{seconds:02} {"pm" if hours > 12 else "am"}'
>>> print (time)
09:33:35 am
>>> type(time)

<class 'str'>

If you have a value that includes a decimal, but the decimal value is negligible (ie: 100.0) and try to int that, you will get an error. It seems silly, but calling float first fixes this.

str(int(float([variable])))

Starting in Python 2.6, there is an alternative: the str.format() method. Here are some examples using the existing string format operator (%):

>>> "Name: %s, age: %d" % ('John', 35) 
'Name: John, age: 35' 
>>> i = 45 
>>> 'dec: %d/oct: %#o/hex: %#X' % (i, i, i) 
'dec: 45/oct: 055/hex: 0X2D' 
>>> "MM/DD/YY = %02d/%02d/%02d" % (12, 7, 41) 
'MM/DD/YY = 12/07/41' 
>>> 'Total with tax: $%.2f' % (13.00 * 1.0825) 
'Total with tax: $14.07' 
>>> d = {'web': 'user', 'page': 42} 
>>> 'http://xxx.yyy.zzz/%(web)s/%(page)d.html' % d 
'http://xxx.yyy.zzz/user/42.html' 

Here are the equivalent snippets but using str.format():

>>> "Name: {0}, age: {1}".format('John', 35) 
'Name: John, age: 35' 
>>> i = 45 
>>> 'dec: {0}/oct: {0:#o}/hex: {0:#X}'.format(i) 
'dec: 45/oct: 0o55/hex: 0X2D' 
>>> "MM/DD/YY = {0:02d}/{1:02d}/{2:02d}".format(12, 7, 41) 
'MM/DD/YY = 12/07/41' 
>>> 'Total with tax: ${0:.2f}'.format(13.00 * 1.0825) 
'Total with tax: $14.07' 
>>> d = {'web': 'user', 'page': 42} 
>>> 'http://xxx.yyy.zzz/{web}/{page}.html'.format(**d) 
'http://xxx.yyy.zzz/user/42.html'

Like Python 2.6+, all Python 3 releases (so far) understand how to do both. I shamelessly ripped this stuff straight out of my hardcore Python intro book and the slides for the Intro+Intermediate Python courses I offer from time-to-time. :-)

Aug 2018 UPDATE: Of course, now that we have the f-string feature in 3.6, we need the equivalent examples of that, yes another alternative:

>>> name, age = 'John', 35
>>> f'Name: {name}, age: {age}'
'Name: John, age: 35'

>>> i = 45
>>> f'dec: {i}/oct: {i:#o}/hex: {i:#X}'
'dec: 45/oct: 0o55/hex: 0X2D'

>>> m, d, y = 12, 7, 41
>>> f"MM/DD/YY = {m:02d}/{d:02d}/{y:02d}"
'MM/DD/YY = 12/07/41'

>>> f'Total with tax: ${13.00 * 1.0825:.2f}'
'Total with tax: $14.07'

>>> d = {'web': 'user', 'page': 42}
>>> f"http://xxx.yyy.zzz/{d['web']}/{d['page']}.html"
'http://xxx.yyy.zzz/user/42.html'