Using features of the print() function

In many cases, the print() function is the first function we learn. The first script is often a variation on the following:

print("Hello world.")

We quickly learn that the print() function can display multiple values, including a helpful space between items.

When we write this:

>>> count = 9973 
>>> print("Final count", count) 
Final count 9973

We see that a space is included to separate the two values. Additionally, a line break, usually represented by the \n character, is printed after the values provided in the function.

Can we control this formatting? Can we change the extra characters that are supplied?

It turns out that there are some more things we can do with print().

Getting ready

We have a spreadsheet that is used to record fuel consumption on a large sailboat. It has rows that look like this:

Date	10/25/13	10/26/13	10/28/13
Engine on	08:24:00	09:12:00	13:21:00
Fuel height on	29	27	22
Engine off	13:15:00	18:25:00	06:25:00
Fuel height off	27	22	14

 

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