Python String Formatting: How to Become a String Wizard with the Format Specification Mini-Language

Python provides fantastic string formatting options, but what if you need greater control over how values are presented? That’s where format specifiers come in.  This article starts with a brief overview of the different string formatting approaches. We’ll then dive straight into some examples to whet your appetite for using Python’s Format Specification Mini-Language in … Read more

Python One Line Conditional Assignment

Problem: How to perform one-line if conditional assignments in Python? Example: Say, you start with the following code. You want to set the value of x to 42 if boo is True, and do nothing otherwise. Let’s dive into the different ways to accomplish this in Python. We start with an overview: Exercise: Run the … Read more

How To Ask Users For Input Until They Provide a Valid Input?

Summary: To accept valid inputs from the user either use a While Loop With Custom Validations or use the PyInputPlus module to avoid tedious validation definitions. You can also use recursion to prompt the user for entering the valid input. Overview Problem: Given a user input; accept the input only if it is valid otherwise … Read more

Python One Line Append

Do you want to one-linerize the append() method in Python? I feel you—writing short and concise one-liners can be an addiction! πŸ™‚ This article will teach you all the ways to append one or more elements to a list in a single line of Python code! Python List Append Let’s quickly recap the append method … Read more

How To Merge Two Python Dictionaries In A Single Expression In Python?

Summary: To merge two dictionaries dict1 and dict2 in a single expression, use the dictionary unpacking feature z = {**dict1, **dict2}. This creates a new dictionary and unpacks all (key-value) pairs into the new dictionary. Duplicate keys are automatically resolved by this method. Exercise: Which of the duplicated entry ends up in the dictionary? Other … Read more

How to Parse JSON in a Python One-Liner?

Problem: How to Parse a JSON object as a Python One-Liner? Example: Say, you have pulled a JSON object from a server using the curl command: Source How to parse the resulting JSON object and extract, say, the value “Netherlands” associated to the “country” key? Solution: The following one-liner accomplishes this: The command consists of … Read more

What is the Asterisk / Star Operator (*) in Python?

Asterisk Operator

Many Python coders—even at intermediate skill levels—are often puzzled when it comes to the asterisk character in Python. What does it mean? How does it work? What’s it purpose? This article answers all of those questions and more. After studying this article, you will have a solid understanding of the asterisk operator * in Python—and … Read more