Printing floating points in python

Question

How can i print a variable whose value is a floting number?

Eg.

my_height = 1.75 #meters
print "I'm %s meters tall." % my_height

Why is the return 1 instead of 1.75, and how can i change it?

The string format argument you're using `%d` is for use in (decimal) integer numbers. Use `%f` instead. — Ffisegydd, May 12 '14 at 15:12
Just because it can be fixed with one letter doesn't mean that it was a typo. This should not have been closed. It is a genuine problem that can be reproduced? Yes. Was it a typo? No, it was caused by not yet knowing a piece of relevant programming information. I'd say this is perfectly on-topic and should be re-opened. — anon582847382, May 12 '14 at 18:20

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered May 12 '14 at 15:13

4

Because in string formatting, just like in C, %d gives an integer.

To fix it, you need to use %f instead of %d:

print "I'm %f meters tall." % my_height
# Outputs "I'm 1.75 meters tall."

answered May 12 '14 at 15:13

anon582847382

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score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered May 12 '14 at 15:12

3

You should use %f instead:

my_height = 1.75 #meters
>>> print "I'm %f meters tall." % my_height
I'm 1.750000 meters tall.

To specify a certain precision, you do it as:

my_height = 1.75 #meters
>>> print "I'm %.2f meters tall." % my_height   #the 2 denoting two figures after decimal point
I'm 1.75 meters tall.

answered May 12 '14 at 15:12

sshashank124

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Thanks, I just started learning python and it's my first language so I'm kinda lost – user3629046 May 12 '14 at 15:28

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered May 12 '14 at 15:27

You are using %d for displaying a floating point number. You can try below methods for displaying floating point numbers with precision. Method 2 is preferred for python 3 and above

Method 1: print "I'm %.2f meters tall." % my_height

Method 2: print "I'm {:.2f} meters tall.".format(my_height)

Printing floating points in python

3 Answers3