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Suppose I have some variables like: >>> count = 8 >>> status = 'off' I want to combine them with some hard-coded text, to get a single string like 'I have 8 cans of Spam®; b...
#3: Post edited
by
Karl Knechtel
·
2023-08-08T01:47:25Z (9 months ago)
fix error message as shown in contemporary versions; add note about how it looks in older versions
- Suppose I have some variables like:
- ```python
- >>> count = 8
- >>> status = 'off'
- ```
- I want to combine them with some hard-coded text, to get a single string like
- `'I have 8 cans of Spam®; baked beans are off'`.
- Simply writing the values in sequence only works for literal strings:
- ```python
- >>> 'one' 'two'
- 'onetwo'
- >>> 'I have' count 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' status
- File "<stdin>", line 1
- 'I have' count 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' status
^- SyntaxError: invalid syntax
- ```
- Using commas to separate the values gives a tuple instead of a single string:
- ```python
- >>> 'I have', count, 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are', status
- ('I have', 8, '; baked beans are', 'off')
- ```
- "Adding" the strings doesn't work either (I know this is not like mathematics, but it works in some other languages!):
- ```python
- >>> 'I have' + count + 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' + status
- Traceback (most recent call last):
- File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
- TypeError: can only concatenate str (not "int") to str
- ```
- How am I meant to do it?
- Suppose I have some variables like:
- ```python
- >>> count = 8
- >>> status = 'off'
- ```
- I want to combine them with some hard-coded text, to get a single string like
- `'I have 8 cans of Spam®; baked beans are off'`.
- Simply writing the values in sequence only works for literal strings:
- ```python
- >>> 'one' 'two'
- 'onetwo'
- >>> 'I have' count 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' status
- File "<stdin>", line 1
- 'I have' count 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' status
- ^^^^^
- SyntaxError: invalid syntax
- ```
- (Python 3.9 and below will only highlight the "c" of `count`; this improvement was [added in 3.10](https://docs.python.org/3/whatsnew/3.10.html#better-error-messages))
- Using commas to separate the values gives a tuple instead of a single string:
- ```python
- >>> 'I have', count, 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are', status
- ('I have', 8, '; baked beans are', 'off')
- ```
- "Adding" the strings doesn't work either (I know this is not like mathematics, but it works in some other languages!):
- ```python
- >>> 'I have' + count + 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' + status
- Traceback (most recent call last):
- File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
- TypeError: can only concatenate str (not "int") to str
- ```
- How am I meant to do it?
#2: Post edited
by
Karl Knechtel
·
2023-08-08T01:44:13Z (9 months ago)
edit example to match the changes in my answer (to shorten it and avoid line-wraps)
- Suppose I have some variables like:
- ```python
- >>> count = 8
- >>> status = 'off'
- ```
- I want to combine them with some hard-coded text, to get a single string like
`'You have 8 cans of Spam® and the baked beans are off'`.- Simply writing the values in sequence only works for literal strings:
- ```python
- >>> 'one' 'two'
- 'onetwo'
>>> 'You have' count 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are' status- File "<stdin>", line 1
'You have' count 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are' status- ^
- SyntaxError: invalid syntax
- ```
- Using commas to separate the values gives a tuple instead of a single string:
- ```python
>>> 'You have', count, 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are', status('You have', 8, 'and the baked beans are', 'off')- ```
- "Adding" the strings doesn't work either (I know this is not like mathematics, but it works in some other languages!):
- ```python
>>> 'You have' + count + 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are' + status- Traceback (most recent call last):
- File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
- TypeError: can only concatenate str (not "int") to str
- ```
- How am I meant to do it?
- Suppose I have some variables like:
- ```python
- >>> count = 8
- >>> status = 'off'
- ```
- I want to combine them with some hard-coded text, to get a single string like
- `'I have 8 cans of Spam®; baked beans are off'`.
- Simply writing the values in sequence only works for literal strings:
- ```python
- >>> 'one' 'two'
- 'onetwo'
- >>> 'I have' count 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' status
- File "<stdin>", line 1
- 'I have' count 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' status
- ^
- SyntaxError: invalid syntax
- ```
- Using commas to separate the values gives a tuple instead of a single string:
- ```python
- >>> 'I have', count, 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are', status
- ('I have', 8, '; baked beans are', 'off')
- ```
- "Adding" the strings doesn't work either (I know this is not like mathematics, but it works in some other languages!):
- ```python
- >>> 'I have' + count + 'cans of Spam®; baked beans are' + status
- Traceback (most recent call last):
- File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
- TypeError: can only concatenate str (not "int") to str
- ```
- How am I meant to do it?
#1: Initial revision
by
Karl Knechtel
·
2023-08-05T16:33:30Z (9 months ago)
How can I build a string from smaller pieces?
Suppose I have some variables like:
```python
>>> count = 8
>>> status = 'off'
```
I want to combine them with some hard-coded text, to get a single string like
`'You have 8 cans of Spam® and the baked beans are off'`.
Simply writing the values in sequence only works for literal strings:
```python
>>> 'one' 'two'
'onetwo'
>>> 'You have' count 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are' status
File "<stdin>", line 1
'You have' count 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are' status
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
```
Using commas to separate the values gives a tuple instead of a single string:
```python
>>> 'You have', count, 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are', status
('You have', 8, 'and the baked beans are', 'off')
```
"Adding" the strings doesn't work either (I know this is not like mathematics, but it works in some other languages!):
```python
>>> 'You have' + count + 'cans of Spam® and the baked beans are' + status
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: can only concatenate str (not "int") to str
```
How am I meant to do it?